Boys Will Be Boys
by Pinkcandle
Summary: When you're forced to tolerate someone, sometimes feelings of hatred can change... for better or worse. And sometimes, a story once thought to be known inside and out can spring forth new life, love, and thought. Tai/Matt, JoexMimi Season 1 Story REBOOT
1. Prolouge

A/N: So, my co-author and I decided that this story needed a reboot. It's one of our longest, proudest fanfictions (since it is, basically, a novelization of season 1 with some shippy stuff taking the front seat in some places), and that it deserves better than the state it was in. So, I decided to go back and fix a few things. A few errors, and most glaringly, a lot of grammar mistakes that I commonly made when we first wrote this fanfiction. So, I'm going to be going back and fixing this fic so that it is polished as it deserves to be!

This is the prologue, it's basically a huge recap of everything up until the mansion episode. Chapter 1 is technically coming next. It switches between Matt and Tai's POV in this beginning bit here, but roll with it, it'll be third person soon enough. Now, please enjoy the updated Boys Will Be Boys!

* * *

My parents had been hovering around the television lately, always watching the news. Apparently climates were changing all over the globe. India was getting ice storms, Africa was flooding, America was getting too many tornadoes. Weird stuff like that. But I'm 11 and don't have time to worry about weird weather, especially since I'm going to summer camp! Kari, my little sister, can't go this year 'cause she's sick with the flu, so I'm gonna bring her back something special. I'm so excited. Sora said she was gonna be there. She's my best friend. I know I'm gonna have a great time. Games, swimming, campfires, sleeping under the stars, and the warm sun overhead. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome!

I'm not particularly excited for summer camp. I thought I was old enough not to do this anymore, but apparently not. I guess I'd have to go anyway, since it's TK's first time going to camp and I can't leave him alone. I guess it's sort've nice to be able to be around him for a while without having to be with one parent or the other, just the two of us.

Even the bus ride to camp is fun. Sora and I sat up front. We talked about how were going to go fishing, play baseball, make dream catchers, everything! Sora's pretty cool. She's more like a guy than a girl, not like Mimi. That girl is all about pink and caught up in some American Western phase. I bet she's gonna take one look at the tents on the ground and start crying about bugs crawling in her hair while she sleeps. Sora and I ran off the bus once we got to the site. Everything seemed perfect, until I bumped into _him_. "You! Aw man, what are you doing here?" Great, Matt had come along. He must have been at the back of the bus brooding. He's that ugly grey cloud that comes along and rains on your parade.

"You have a problem with that?" Great, _him_. The other kids I can stand, even if they are a little weird. But I just can't deal with Tai. Looking at him, you'd think he'd be a cool kid. Soccer player, decent clothes, not like the stuffy nerds that make up the other guys at this camp like Izzy and Joe. But once you get to know him... This kid grates on my nerves more than I think anyone could.

I turned my chin up at him. Matt's always got that look on his face like he's better than you. Fat chance. "Why'd you even come, Matt? Your sucky mood is gonna ruin all our fun."

"I have to watch TK." I didn't even have time to explain myself more and just walked past him. I really don't even see why I bothered as much as I did to grace him with a response. I had better stuff to do, especially since, knowing him, he'd just start a fight with me if I said anything more.

"Don't brush me off!" I turned to go after him, but Sora caught my arm.

"Tai, leave it alone." She looked kind of sad when she said that, and it made me feel weird. I just grunted and went to the bus to get our stuff. Counselors had told us there were girl tents and boy tents. I guess I can get that, but really wanted to bunk with Sora. She's cool. Not to mention I didn't want to get stuck with Izzy or Joe. They probably snored or used inhalers. So lame.

I was pretty pleased when I got put the same tent as Joe, since TK was in a tent with some other younger kids anyway. Even if Joe is a cowardly nerd who's always complaining about certain camp activities, at least he's not fighting me every three seconds, so I could get some rest if I just zoned out his worried complaints or him counting his emergency rations for the billionth time.

Once I got my stuff put away, I decided that nature and I should have some quiet time together. I climbed up the nearest tree and laid out on the sunniest branch. Yeah... This is what summer camp is all about. I had just dozed off when something cold hit my face. At first I thought it was rain. Oh good, Matt brought the storm clouds with him. But then I sat up and saw, to my total disbelief, that there was actually snow falling from the sky. Snow! In the summer!

I knew that everyone else must've noticed as the snow started coming down. Even that kid Izzy, who was always buried in his laptop, put it down to look up at the snow flakes... if only to go back to trying to connect to the net. A bunch of the other kids at camp had gone off to do some hiking trip or something, but seven of us were left standing on a cliff, watching the snow fall. It was seriously freaky.

I punched that smug kid in the arm. "Good job, Matt."

"What'd I do!" I snapped, crossing my arms.

"Obviously this crappy weather followed you here!"

"You realize that's impossible," Joe mumbled from somewhere behind me.

"Whatever. All I know is that Matt is always giving everyone the cold shoulder. Thinks he's so cool. Always sulking about something. Now look; freezing gloomy snow storm. Matt's rotten vibes brought it here."

"Hey, I-!" I started, putting my fists up.

But Mimi squealed, "Look at the sky, everyone!" That's when we all turned to see what looked like an aurora dancing across the sky. It was even more out of place than the freak snow.

Izzy was saying something about Arora Borey Alice and Alaska or whatever. I wasn't really listening. I was more focused on this green hurricane looking cloud spinning up in the sky. It looked like some weird vortex, like aliens were gonna come through or something. Suddenly there was this explosion and fireballs fell from the sky. Someone screamed about meteors so we all dove into the snow.

I wasn't scared... really. Even if they were meteors, they were so small that they couldn't have hurt much, anyway. They'd be meteorites, right? But they weren't meteorites. These strange things started floating out of the ground, and everyone took a grab at them. I think Joe's almost got away from him.

At first I thought these things were Tamagachis. Super alien Tamagachis. It was the only explanation. Everyone was mumbling about them when the water in the lake exploded! Of course we all tried to run, but tidal waves were hard to escape from. We were swept up in seconds. I kept waiting to drown, for water to fill my lungs and for everything to go black, but that didn't happen. Instead... I woke up with a giant living piece of bubblegum sitting on my chest and staring at me. I freaked.

It still amazes me how everyone managed to scream, even when the water swallowed us up. Even when I should have been drowning, I could hear them yelling and screeching until everything went quiet and I found myself on the ground in some jungle somewhere. Everything seemed completely normal, that was, of course, until I turned over to be looking straight into the face of what looked like a furry orange blob with a huge black horn on its head.

I could tell you what happened next, but you wouldn't believe me if I tried. Let's just say it involved more talking blobs, a giant killer beetle, and our little talking blobs turning into weird monsters. Digital Monsters. Digimon, to be specific. That's what they call themselves anyway. Me and the kids all met up again. Even Matt. Why couldn't he have drowned? Not only were we stuck in this crazy computer world, but grumpy gloomy Matt had to be there too. His Digimon looks like a six-legged dog cross-bred with a unicorn. I dunno. My guy is totally awesome. Agumon is his name and breathing fire is his game. Seriously, I have a little orange fire-breathing dinosaur! How cool is that!

Gabumon's an... interesting guy. He's supposed to be a reptile, or so his scales would suggest. But he always wears that fur, and later... well, much later, he changed again into a wolf. I have no idea how that leap in logic works, but everything's screwed up in this crazy world anyway. Road signs grow on trees for no reason, there's phones sitting on beaches that just eat your coins to tell you stupid, incorrect information, and then, of course, everything we run into wants to kill us.

I guess I sort of got used to Matt after a while. Even if we all weren't the best of friends, we figured out we'd have to get along and work together if we're gonna survive. Matt's still pretty anti-social, though. Actually, he only seems interested in defending himself and his little brother. I can admire him for being a protector, but he has to get over this whole selfish thing. It's getting on my nerves. Guy doesn't listen to a word I say! I'm the leader here. Why doesn't he get that? Matt ticks me off so much that the kid is all I can think about sometimes.

Even if I am getting used to this team we've been forced to make, it bugs me that Tai thinks he's automatically the leader. He always makes these rash decisions and wants to go the most dangerous route, regardless of what's going on with everyone else. Why won't he drop that superior attitude and just listen to me once in a while?

Matt's all up in my face again. We were just attacked by a Grizzlymon who ended up being so strong that he sent Agumon back into Koromon and Gabumon back into Tsunomon. Why's he so pissed? It's not like they won't be able to Digivolve again in a few days. At least they didn't die. "Why do you always have to fight every decision I make, Matt? The forest was still safer than the prairie! Out there we would have been sitting ducks for just about anything!"

"Yeah, well out there we could have seen what was coming for us and our Digimon could've Digivolved before it attacked us! In the forest we had no clue where we were going and that thing snuck up on us! Why don't you stop and listen to the group for once?"

"Hey!" That's when I pushed him. "The group is just fine with how things are going. It's you who seems to have a problem with everything we do! Maybe you should think about getting on board!"

"I think you're the one that should get your head out of the clouds! This isn't a game, Tai! We could get killed out here and you just care about leading us all into the most dangerous parts of the island!" I pushed him back, putting my fists up, gritting my teeth. This happened nearly every day and it always ended with us throwing punches and then wrestling in the dirt.

"You don't think I'm taking this seriously? I'm doing the best I can! Be more appreciative, you ass!" I heard Mimi gasp.

"Tai, you aren't supposed to talk like that," Sora said to me, again with that sad look on her face.

"Or what? I'm gonna get in trouble? With who? We aren't kids anymore, Sora. We can't afford to be out here. This is real, and I'm going to do and say what I have to to make sure we survive!" I turned my eyes back on Matt. "And that means putting you in your place." So I punched him in the face.

I retaliated, holding my nose, which I bet was bleeding, and kicking my foot out to take out Tai's ankles and send him crashing to the ground. I sometimes thought we fought each other more than our enemies.

"Cut it out you guys!" Joe ran in. It was a rare occasion when he stepped up and actually behaved like the oldest kid in the group. He saw the blood dripping between Matt's fingers. I noticed it too, but instead of feeling concerned, I just smirked with a sense of satisfaction. That's right, Matt. I know how to handle you. "Come on," Joe said while trying to lead Matt away. "Let me look at your nose."

I wouldn't back down like a dog with a tail between my legs, though. I ripped away from Joe and leaped at Tai, punching him right back, square in the face. Not quite as hard, since his nose didn't start bleeding like mine, but I'm sure it was enough to make him think twice about picking a fight with me again. Of course, it was then that Koromon got involved and forced us to break it up before I finally went with Joe to bandage up my nose.

Okay, so I wasn't expecting that. If I was, I would've protected myself better. "You suck!" I shouted after him while rubbing the bridge of my nose. Man that hurt! I looked down at my pink bubblegum shaped friend. "Thanks, Koromon."

"Why do you two always fight, Tai?" he asked, watching as I got lead away to hopefully find a stream or something to wash all of the blood off my gloves.

"'Cause he's a royal jerk," I grunted. "If Matt wanted to make all the decisions, he should have spoken up to be leader a long time ago. We needed someone to be a guide and make final choices, so I stepped up."

No one ever elected Tai leader. There was never a vote. He just said something and most everyone blindly followed him. It was crazy. Every day that passed I'd watch him put us in more and more trouble in an incredibly reckless way. I guess I could see how someone could find his courage pretty endearing, but when it boiled down to it's bare core, he was just stupid.

And when you peeled away all Matt's layers of indifference, he was just a bitch. I hated that guy... Seriously.

I guess everything finally cooled down a bit when he finally found a decent place to have a good meal. It seems like all these kids ever think about is food. But when we found a mansion in the middle of no where, full of food and running water and oddly enough, bath robes, everything seemed to change. It started pretty normally, considering how often we'd find random buildings and signs of intelligent life with no one in sight...


	2. Snowstorm

"That's it! I can't bear to look any longer! I'm gonna eat it! At least I won't die hungry!" Those were Joe's last words before throwing himself at the table of food. It had been conveniently set out for the children, much to the suspicion of a few. Their Digimon had begun stuffing their faces immediately. One might think this meant the food was safe to eat, but then again, birds could eat berries that would kill a human in a matter of minutes. Starvation won out in the end, though, and quickly enough everyone was eating to their heart's content. Matt still looked a little suspicious of the food, but not having eaten for a while finally got him to sit down next to Tai in the only vacant seat and start eating, albeit a bit slowly compared to his ravenous teammates.

Tai reached over with his fork and jabbed a piece of smoked ham from Matt's plate. His own plate was empty now, but his stomach was not. "You snooze you lose, man," he said and crammed the piece of meat into his mouth.

"Dude!" Matt snapped, pushing his plate to the other side to keep it out of Tai's reach, only for Gomamon, who was sitting on his other side, to grab the other piece of ham.

"What he said!"

"Survival of the fittest, Matt. If you're not going to work for it, you don't deserve it." Tai then stuffed a roll into his mouth, but still insisted on talking, crumbs flying everywhere. "You gonna be the weakest link? Next big monster that comes along is gonna pick you off first." Matt just grumbled, leaning back in his chair and grabbing a chicken leg, tearing into it and refusing to put it down on his plate to be poached. Tai punched him lightly in the arm. "Now you're getting it."

"Buzz off," Matt grunted, pushing Tai's arm away from his.

Gabumon came up beside his human, having seen the others pillage his food. He tugged on Matt's pant leg and held up an apple. "Here you are, Matt. I grabbed the last one for you. I certainly do hope you like them."

Matt just grinned slightly, taking the apple and patting Gabumon on the head. "Thanks, buddy." Gabumon was definitely his one true friend in the group. When it came right down to it, he trusted Gabumon the most and liked him the most. That might've said something bad about Matt, but he didn't care.

Tai snickered. "Aww, Gabumon wuvs you so much, Matt."

"Leave him alone!" Matt snapped, kicking Tai's shin under the table. "He's just being nice!"

"Ow! Jeez, man, you don't have to kick me!"

Another tug at Matt's jeans and Gabumon held up a chocolate cupcake. "How about this, Matt? I understand that human children love sweets."

Tai pouted and looked over at his own orange dinosaur. "Hey, how come you didn't get me a cupcake?"

"He's too busy stuffing his face to give you anything!" Matt taunted as he bit into the apple, giving Gabumon another pat on the head before saying, "Nah buddy, you need more strength than I do, just in case. You can have it."

"But don't you like them, Matt?" Gabumon asked with a slight tilt of his head. "I can try finding you something else if you like. You need your strength just as much as I do. Besides, I'm supposed to take care of you. My duty is to see to it that you are well and happy."

"I'm fine with this, Gabumon," Matt insisted, throwing the apple up and down in his hand. "Don't worry so much."

Gabumon nodded. "Very well, Matt."

Most of the boys were still stuffing their faces when both the girls were heard shrieking upstairs. "This place has washrooms! With steaming hot baths!" Sora cried. This was a bit of a surprise, since she wasn't really the girliest of the two. Of course... she was still a girl.

"Just like hot springs! Perfect!" Mimi chimed in, so loud that her voice was even clearer.

"Baths?" Matt asked, looking up at the ceiling that hid the room above them. Most of the Digimon had run upstairs to see.

"I didn't even realize they'd left the table..." Izzy murmured.

"A nice hot soak after a full stomach sounds good to me!" Tai chimed. He bolted up from the table and clamored up the stairs, making more racket than was necessary. Tai at once found the boy's side of the baths and began tearing his clothes off. Even when all the others had left, Gabumon was lingering behind, gathering up the dishes. Matt followed upstairs, lagging behind everyone else, since everyone else was practically running. He was actually surprised to find that there was, in fact, a steaming hot bath already drawn with a divider between the two halves of a large rock pool. Odd, but he was chalking this all up to good luck by now. He kicked off his shoes and socks and threw the rest of his clothing in the corner before sliding in. Tai climbed up on some of the rocks over the pool. He placed his fists on his hips and stuck his chest out. "I'm the king of the castle! And you're all dirty rascals!" he proclaimed. With a bend of his knees, Tai launched into the air and landed with a large splash in the tub.

"Don't jump in-!" Of course Matt's plea was too late and he got completely soaked with hot water. His blond hair fell wet into his face as he groaned loudly, smacking his arm on the water and splashing Tai back.

"C'mon, man, we haven't had a bath in forever! The least we can do is enjoy it," Tai said and splashed the blond again playfully.

"Yeah, that's right!" TK resounded while blowing little bubbles with his nose.

A gentle creaking signified the changing room door had opened and standing there was a bashful Joe wrapped securely in a towel. "I'm coming in," he said meekly.

Tai snorted. "Lame."

"It's only guys in here," Matt said, leaning over the rocks with a grunt of disapproval. "Why're you covering up?"

Joe's face became lightly dusted with pink. "Well, because... Social decency dictates that... A-and the Digimon are... What if the girls?" Tai nudged Matt's shoulder as the older boy stammered and offered a mischievous smirk. Matt gave Tai an odd look at first, but then caught his drift and mirrored his smirk. He chuckled, standing up before vaulting himself over the side of the bath. Joe watched with wide eyes as both boys ran towards him and he gripped the towel on instinct. "W-What are you doing? Stop that!"

"This is for your own good!" Tai said with that same smirk.

Joe was putting up an impressive fight out grappling the other two boys for the towel. "Let go! Ah! Rape! Rape!" Tai just laughed harder until he snagged the towel away and threw it in the water.

Matt started laughing as well, watching as the towel fell uselessly in the water. "Whoops," he snorted, hands on his hips and that smirk still stagnant on his face. That's when the girls squealed, and suddenly Gomamon was vaulted over the divider and crash landed on top of Joe.

Tai was hysterical. How could he not be with Joe lying there, naked butt up in the air and out stone cold? This was priceless. The kid thought he was going to fall over he was laughing so hard, so Tai slung his arm over Matt's shoulders to keep upright. "Oh man, dude, where's a camera when you need one?"

TK was scrambling out of the water then. "What if he's really hurt?"

"You guys are jerks!" Sora shouted, followed by the sound of their changing room door slamming.

"You're the ones that chucked Gomamon over here!" Matt shouted back, also starting to break down in hysterics. Izzy looked concerned, so he got TK out of the bath and they and their Digimon picked Joe and Gomamon up and hauled them off to the changing room. By then Matt was wiping tears from his eyes, gulping down air to try and stop himself from cracking up.

"Hey..." Tai gave Matt a soft punch in the chest. "You're all right, man. That was pretty funny. Hysterical, actually."

Matt laughed, just barely managing to punch Tai back with how hard he'd been laughing. "Oh man, it was."

Once the laughter died out, Tai realized how much he was shivering. "Cold out here," he said before getting back into the hot tub with a relieved sigh. "I could stay in here all night. Even if I do shrivel up like a prune. This just feels too good."

Matt nodded his agreement and slid in slowly so the water barely moved. "And now we've got it all to ourselves!" he said victoriously, grinning, closing his eyes and putting his hands behind his head.

"So... Matt..." Tai began slowly. "We both seem to be in a pretty good mood and the other kids aren't around. Let's talk. Obviously we still need to get back home. Leading everyone around on File Island is pretty easy since we're already here and know what we have to do. But... I don't know how we're going to get home." Tai fell silent. Briefly it seemed he was going to reconsider his next words and not say them at all. But his voice came again. "If we're lucky, the Digital World will just spit us back out soon. In case that doesn't happen, do you have any ideas on how we could get back?"

Matt quirked an eyebrow at first. "You're asking me?" But he quickly composed himself and cleared his throat before Tai could answer. "Well, I think we should look into going back the way we came. We saw an aurora and then went through some kind of portal in the water, right? So maybe we should look for a similar aurora out here."

"But nothing here is the same as it was back home. An aurora here could be... I dunno... radioactive jellybeans falling from the sky or something."

"That's true..." Matt said, scratching at the back of his head. "Though, there are forests and deserts and an ocean here, who's to say there isn't other normal stuff, too? It's possible if we find somewhere with snow that we might find a similar aurora. After all, that kid Izzy said that seeing one where we were was strange in the first place."

"I guess that makes sense. But, should we be near snow or water? The aurora happened in the snow, but we got here when the water swept us up." Tai scratched his head. "I mean, really, the aurora just gave us those weird gadgets. The water brought us to the Digital World."

"Well, do you think there are any glaciers near water?" Matt asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully, even though he had nothing to really stroke. "I mean, I doubt the snowy landscape is gonna turn into a beach before it hits water, and this place is an island with water on all sides. There's gotta be a place with both."

Tai nodded. "Right. Someplace where the water starts to freeze enough to turn into glaciers. That could work. So I guess that means we'll plan on heading to the nearest polar location, right? Hopefully once we fix everything there won't be as much danger anymore. Traveling should be easy for us. Wouldn't you think?"

Matt nodded as well. "Right. And since we're right at the middle of the island right now, we can see exactly where we need to go from here and head straight there."

"Perfect!" Before Tai even knew what he was doing, he'd lunged through the water and latched onto Matt, giving him a strong hug. Then it only took about ten seconds for the kid to realize what he'd done and immediately surge back. He stammered for a minute before punching Matt in the arm. "Good thinking, man. Thanks."

Matt just stared at Tai for a moment, before clearing his throat again and trying to regain his "cool guy posture", leaning back against the rocks with his arms resting on them. "Uh, yeah. Thanks for asking," he said, offering up something of a weak smile.

"I'd be a pretty sucky leader if I didn't listen to my team, right?" Feeling too awkward still to really face the other boy, Tai took a deep breath and plunged below the water. He remained submerged for as long as his lungs would allow. The hot water burned his eyes, but he didn't care. Tai thought about how far they'd come and wondered how much farther they had to go. Could he lead for as long as they would be stuck here? What if this mission wasn't the only mission? What if there were more? What if they were trapped on this island destined to complete one task after another? He started thinking about weeks, months, years... Everyone depending on him because he said he could do it. He said he would take care of everyone. Why did he say that? _I can't! I'm not that strong!_ Tai's lungs burned and he was forced to surface, coughing and choking and looking scared out of his mind.

Matt just gave him a sort of mildly concerned look. "Stressing about being leader after you so eagerly jumped on it?" he asked, brushing his blond bangs out of his dark eyes.

Tai's brown eyes glared at the other boy over his shoulder. "No. Shut up." He splashed Matt rudely before climbing out of the tub and slinking away into the changing room.

Matt just groaned and turned over, crossing his arms on the side of the tub and putting his chin on them. "You just made it really obvious you're stressing!" he called after Tai.

Tai stuck his head back into the washroom. "Well maybe if I didn't have you contradicting every word I say!"

"Oh, look at me, I'm Taichi Yagami! I made myself leader but I don't really have faith in myself and I'm stressing out over little things that I should have expected as leader anyway!" Matt said tauntingly, waving his hands.

"Shut the hell up!" Tai growled and threw a stray rock at Matt's head.

Matt ducked into the water, only to reemerge laughing. "It's so easy to get you worked up, dude!" Tai just growled again and ducked back into the changing room. He dried off, put his blue briefs on, and then took one of the last two bathrobes hanging on the wall. He considered taking a piss on Matt's robe, but then decided he was too tired to fight anymore. Instead he just grabbed some more food from the kitchen and headed off to bed. Matt followed after taking a few more minutes for himself, grabbing the last robe and throwing it on, drying his hair with a towel as he walked out into the hallway, only to find Gabumon standing there nervously toying with his fur coat. "Gabumon? Did you ever get into the bath?"

Gabumon just shook his head silently. "Are you ready to go to sleep now, Matt? You really need your rest."

"Do you want to go in now?" Matt asked, gesturing to the washroom. "It's empty. I'll even guard the door for you if you're embarrassed."

The Digimon offered up a smile. "Thank you, Matt, but that won't be necessary. Let's just get you to bed, hm?" He gave the boy a gentle nudge about the legs. "Off you go."

"If you're sure..." Matt sighed, letting himself be corralled to the bedroom by his Digimon. He edged in just in case everyone was asleep, but it seemed everyone was sitting up in bed. He found an empty bed by TK and promptly jumped in, leaving enough space next to him for Gabumon as he leaned back on the pillows with his hands behind his head.

"Some crazy summer camp, huh guys?" Tai murmured from his bed.

"That's not really funny," Joe murmured in reply.

The leader nodded slowly. "Right, sorry..." TK was just lying in his own bed, turned away from everyone else, and crying softly into his pillow. This was the first time he went to bed, in a real bed, without his mom coming in to kiss him goodnight.

Matt slowly noticed this, and he bit his lip slightly. He sat up, sitting on the edge of his own bed and putting a hand on TK's shoulder. "TK... don't cry."

"I miss mommy," the child whimpered. "She always reads me a bedtime story, tucks me in, and gives me a kiss. I don't even have a nightlight here. I'm scared."

"There's nothing to be scared of, TK," Matt insisted. "Everyone's here to protect you, and everyone also wants to go home... we all miss home, but we're gonna work together to make sure we get back. Okay...?"

"That's right!" Patamon piped up, gently pawing at TK's hair. "There's nothing to be scared of 'cause I'm always gonna be here to protect you, TK!"

The little blond mustered a smile. "Thanks, Patamon." TK rolled over and sat up, reaching his arms toward his big brother, asking for a hug.

Matt looked a bit awkward, but gave his brother a hug all the same. When he pulled back, he patted the boy on the head and said, "Get some sleep, okay?"

TK nodded. "'Kay, Matt. Night." Tai watched the exchange between the brothers. He wondered how Kari was doing. Was she over the flu yet? She must be worried sick about him. Tai hoped she wasn't crying too much. He'd be home soon, and then he could tell her stories about their adventures here. The boy smiled a bit to himself and then laid down to sleep. Matt laid back on his bed as well, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. Tons of thoughts were running through his head, and he was the last one left awake after everyone had gone to sleep. But eventually, with a sigh, he rolled over and passed out as well.

Unbeknownst to the children, their safe haven was actually a hell house. Hidden within the heavenly painting in the foyer was a black demon. The most beautiful angel is the devil himself, or so the story goes. Slowly, the digital Lucifer crept out from the painting and was met by his two minions; the ogre and the lion. "You know what has to be done," he said in a deceivingly smooth tone.

"Kill the children," they each replied.

"Tai..." Agumon whispered, shaking the boy's shoulder slightly from where he lay beside him. "Tai, wake up..."

Tai mumbled his refusal at first, but eventually one brown eye opened to meet large green eyes. "W-What?" he whined softly. "I'm sleeping."

"I have to go to the bathroom," the dinosaur whined back. "Come with me."

"You can go by yourself, can't you? You fight monster Digimon three times your size. I think you can use the toilet on your own."

"I'd do it for you, Tai," Agumon argued, shaking his shoulder again.

The boy groaned. "Fiiiiiiiine." So he got out of bed and accompanied the little orange dinosaur to the bathroom. "And just so you know, I wouldn't need you to come with me. I'm big enough to go by myself."

"Sure, Tai," Agumon said as he closed the stall door. There was quite a wait and Agumon hadn't come out. Finally, after several long minutes, he stepped out, saying, "Weird! I ate so much, I thought..."

Tai just pat Agumon on the shoulder. "It happens to everyone. Sometimes it's just-" A sudden explosion of stall doors and tile caught the both of them by surprise. Without any other warning, Ogremon swung his club down upon the pair, roaring for a battle. "What the heck is going on!" Tai shouted as he jumped out of the way and ran into the hall.

Agumon slid out into the hall after him, only to yell and point a claw down the hallway, their path back to the bedroom blocked by the intimidating figure of Leomon. "Kill the children," he growled, muscles tense and ready to pounce.

Tai took a cautionary step backward. "Agumon, now would be a really good time for you to Digivolve."

"Right!" Agumon said, clenching his fists. There was a pause, and nothing happened before Agumon fell back into a sitting position. "I-I can't! Even though I had so much food...!"

"What!" Tai cried and then his attention was drawn back to Leomon.

"Fist of the Beast King!"

Tai watched with wide eyes as a flaming lion's head hurdled right for his face. At the last minute he ducked and scrambled between Leomon's legs. "We're under attack!" he shouted when bursting into the bedroom. "Get up! We have to get out of here!"

"Oh, you aren't going anywhere," the smooth voice echoed into the air.

Agumon spun around as everyone jerked awake, shouting at Tai to see what was wrong. "Oh no!" Agumon was the first to yell over the commotion. "It's Devimon!"

With a simple snap of his fingers, the mansion pixelated into a house of rubble. Each child in their bed was launched into the air, spinning around like kites caught in the wind. "You all are very problematic," Devimon said. "You are the monkey wrench in my well oiled machine. Nothing personal, really, but I have to kill you now."

"Agumon, try again!"

Agumon's green eyes were locked on the kids being spiraled around in the air on their beds. Again, he tried to Digivolve. "Nothing's happening, Tai! I don't have any energy for some reason!"

Devimon laughed. "You really think I would let you gain back your strength? Everything you experienced tonight was an illusion. You all are still the dirty, starving vermin you were this morning. Easier to dispose of, you see. Now... Leomon, be a good boy and take care of this one." Leomon leapt forward with a roar. He shoved Agumon aside with his special attack and then proceeded to grab Taichi around the throat, slam him into the wall, and draw his sword. Suddenly, a glowing light cut through the darkness, completely blinding Leomon, who dropped Tai with a loud roar. Agumon instantly ran over to Tai's side, trying to help him back up again.

"Devimon!" The great lion turned, baring his teeth in a snarl. "You deceived and controlled me! Used me to kill these children! I won't do your dirty work, not when they are the ones who will stop your evil from spreading!"

Tai stood on shaky legs. "We'll fight him together!"

"No." Leomon turned again. "You are not strong enough yet. I will do what I can, but you must escape."

"What? No!" But there was no time to argue as Leomon drew his sword and used it to collapse the balcony, sending Tai and Agumon into the water below. Overhead, Devimon swiped his hand, and the children were scattered in all directions. Screams faded as the beds that each of the children and their Digimon were crouched on were thrown into various directions, plummeting towards pieces of the island, which had broken up and began to drift apart, away from the mountain, as Tai and Agumon were now doing as they helplessly watched Leomon and Devimon start to duke it out up on the mountaintop. To their horror, Devimon seized the lion and once again infected him with a dark gear. Tai could only scream after him as he and Agumon drifted farther away on the current.

And soon, they were so far away that they couldn't make out what was going on up on the mountaintop. All of their friends had crashed landed and were no where to be seen. They were drifting further and further away, and the air was getting colder. Eventually, Agumon put a hand on Tai's shoulder. "Tai..."

"I'm so weak," he said through clenched teeth, fist pounding the flat stone. "I should have been able to help him! What good am I if I can't help fight?"

"It's not our fault, Tai! We thought we had energy, but it was an illusion... we didn't know," Agumon said, looking around. "That's not our biggest problem right now! Where are we?"

Tai looked around the area they had landed at. All he could see was snow and... a random row of post office boxes. "I-I don't know. I thought File Island was all that was here. Don't you know? You live in this place."

"I've never left File Island!" Agumon said, looking up at Tai as they stepped onto the snow. "Wouldn't you know? You come from another world!"

"But not this world," Tai reminded him. A chilling wind blew at them and the boy clutched his own body, shivering and sniffling. "It's so cold here..."

"Thanks to Devimon's illusion, those bath robes vanished, didn't they?" Agumon said, frowning a bit before starting to dig through the snow. "Maybe your clothes fell here when everything got scattered!" It took a few minutes and Agumon dug a long way, but he finally emerged, victoriously holding Tai's frozen clothing over his head.

After having Agumon use his Pepper Breath on his clothes, Tai got dressed and they began wandering around. Of course, they couldn't catch a break for very long. Soon they found themselves in a fight with Fridgimon, who was under the control of a black gear. Tai managed to use his soccer skills to free the snowman-looking Digimon. As a show of thanks, he helped them to the island where he claimed to have seen Matt and Gabumon fall.

After a very long hike over to the island, the group of three found themselves in a forest. And, after that hike, there was another one through the snowy landscape in search of Matt or Gabumon. Finally, after many long hours, Agumon gasped excitedly and pointed to a shape in the snow. "There's his bed!"

Gabumon had been watching over Matt all night. The boy had developed hypothermia while out searching for his brother. Gabumon had even been so bold as to remove his fur coat and use it to keep the boy warm. Now he was slipping it back on. A loud sneeze escaped him, drowning out the initial calls of their friends outside. Matt at once started shivering, his storm blue eyes opening and looking up at Gabumon. "Gabumon? You gave me your fur?" he asked, rubbing his eyes a bit to make sure he wasn't just seeing the Digimon adjust the fur coat to fit again.

"When I found you, you were nearly frozen. If I hadn't covered you, you would have died," Gabumon insisted. "I told you, Matt, my duty is to protect and take care of you. I would do anything to make sure you stay safe."

Matt stood up, brushing himself off. He mustered up a slight grin, nodding and bowing. "Well... thanks."

"Gabumon!" It was then that they finally heard Agumon's voice bouncing off the cave walls.

"Matt! Matt, where are you?" Tai called out at the top of his lungs.

"It's Tai and Agumon!" Matt gasped, at once turning around and dashing out of the cave. As soon as he spotted them, he started laughing, shouting, "Tai!" when he finally caught sight of the other boy running towards him.

"Matt!" Tai picked up speed at finally seeing the blond. He'd never been so happy to see that gloomy jerk. "Matt, you're here!" he said and actually grabbed the other's hand when they met. "Man, I am so glad to see you! I thought we'd all be separated forever."

Matt nodded enthusiastically, clamping his other hand over Tai's. "Me too!" Gabumon had done the same with Agumon, and they all laughed until Matt's blue eyes finally caught sight of the big white bear Digimon standing behind Tai. "Who's this?"

"Oh! This is Fridigimon. We freed him from a black gear and then he helped get us to his island. He said he saw you two fall here, so Agumon and I knew we had to get here somehow. Have you seen any of the others yet?"

"No..." Matt said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "I spent all night looking, but it just got me frozen and got Gabumon a cold."

"I know how to fix a cold," Fridigimon said and then wandered off.

Tai offered a smile and pat Matt's shoulder. "We'll find 'em, Matt. We just have to get to that place on the other side of the ocean Devimon was talking about. I'm sure we'll run into everyone there."

"What?" Matt asked, turning on Tai suddenly. "We can't rely on that! What if we're all going in different directions? We need to get to the other islands and find them!"

"Matt, we don't even know where those other islands are," Tai argued. "We could just end up getting even more lost. I'm sure all these islands are heading in the same direction anyway. We'll probably even cross paths with a few of them. We can't be reckless."

"But if we don't go and try to find them now, our islands could drift so far away that we'll never have enough power to get across the ocean to them! We have to go now before we get too far away!"

Tai held the other boy's shoulders. "Matt, calm down. How do expect us to even get to those islands? The water is too cold. We can't just jump out there. We'll die from heart failure or something."

"I'll make a raft out of the trees, then!" Matt said, breaking away from Tai's hands and angrily starting to storm off in the opposite direction, only to break into a run a few seconds later.

Tai chased after him and tackled him down into the snow. "Matt, stop! I understand how you feel, but we have to think about this! We need to get to the other side! We'll have more resources to work with." Matt didn't answer, he just clenched his teeth, rolling over in the snow and decking Tai right across the face with a well-aimed punch. "You little!" Tai launched himself at Matt again, pinning him down and then swinging his own fist down at a blue eye.

Matt at once covered his eye with one hand, only to send his knee crashing up into Tai's stomach. "Guys! Stop it!" Agumon shouted, his green eyes widening.

"This is no time to be fighting with each other!" Gabumon added. Neither boy seemed to hear them. Tai lost his breath for a minute, but he grabbed the front of Matt's shirt all the same and shook him. They ended up rolling down the snow bank throwing punches at one another. Their wrestling and fighting continued all the way down a slope until they finally hit a snag and tumbled over each other, Tai landing on top of Matt at the very edge of a cliff. It looked like they were ready to start fighting all over again, but suddenly, Matt sniffled.

Tai drew his arm back for another hit when he paused, now seeing the tears run over Matt's cheeks. "Yamato... Why are you crying?" he asked quietly, daring to use the other boy's full name.

"Takeru..." Matt sobbed, the tears running freely from his storm gray eyes. "He's out there all alone on some strange island... who knows if he's even met up with one of the others..."

The brunet dropped his fist. "Yamato..." Finally he sighed and moved off the blond. "We're idiots."

"Guys! Get away from that cliff!" The sudden shout from Agumon snapped them back into reality, and both shouted as the ledge they were sitting on suddenly gave way.

"Matt!" Tai grabbed the boy's hand and he grabbed onto a branch sticking out from the rocks. "I got you, Matt! I got you! I won't let go! Just hang on!" Gabumon stared worriedly over the edge while wishing desperately he could Digivolve into Garurumon and just leap down to get them. Matt held on tightly to Tai's hand, his blue eyes locked on the ground below as he swung dangerously. He held as tight as he could, but he could feel his fingers starting to slip. Tai felt it too, so he gripped even harder. "If you drop, I drop with you!" he swore. "I'm not going to let go!" That's when he heard the branch snapping, giving way to their weight. Brown eyes searched frantically for another branch or a ledge they could swing to.

Agumon started down the side to try and help the two, only to look over the cliff top when he heard a loud yell. A furry white Digimon was sliding down the slope with a sharp icicle spear in his hands and a black gear lodged in his chin. "It's Mojymon! And he's got a black gear in him!"

Everything happened so quickly. With one attack the cliff broke apart and sent the four hurdling toward the ground, but Tai never let go of Matt's hand. To their immense luck, Fridgimon was just below them and they were able to bounce off his girth, landing safely. "Boy, are we glad to see you!" Tai exclaimed.

Matt fell to the ground with a thud, but then quickly leapt to his feet, pulling himself up by Tai's hand. "Thanks, Fridgimon!"

"It's raining kids again..." Fridgimon said with a slight chuckle, offering up some berries and a cold remedy he'd collected in the forest just before Mojymon came sliding down the mountainside, roaring loudly. The children and their Digimon ran off screaming while Fridgimon engaged in battle with the Yeti-like Digimon. With the help of the food provided for them, Gabumon and Agumon were able to Digivolve and help free Mojymon from the black gear's control.

Finally, everything fixed itself. Mojymon returned to normal size, and he and Fridgimon left after Garurumon attacked the black gears that they'd found in the mountainside during the battle. The island began to move the other way, back towards the mountain. "This doesn't change anything, Tai," Matt said quietly. "We still need to go look for the others."

Tai nodded. "I know. Listen... Let's ride this thing back to File Island. From there, we can plan out our search route, get a decent boat, and maybe some food. Then, once we have a secure plan, we'll go find the others. How does that sound? Would you be okay with that?"

Matt sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, that sounds fine. For now..." He looked the other way. There was another slope leading down to the water. "We've got our snow and our water. Maybe we should spend the rest of today down there and see if we can see that aurora."

Tai nodded. "Sounds like a plan." Matt had forced Gabumon and Agumon to go back to the cave and make themselves a fire, since he didn't want Gabumon getting sick again right after they'd found him a remedy. Tai followed Matt to a snowy clearing where there weren't any cliffs or trees blocking their view of the sky. He plopped back into the snow, trying to ignore how wet they were getting, and set his sights on the sky. "If we do see the aurora way out here, that probably means we have to come back to this spot when we want to go home."

Matt nodded when Tai spoke. "That's right. Hopefully my idea is correct..."

"Feels like we're hoping for miracles that are just too good to come true," Tai said quietly.

"I'm used to that feeling," Matt responded. There was a long pause before he added, "You really saved my ass back there. I guess I should thank you."

Tai shook his head. "I was just doing what anyone else would do. You'd grab my hand, right?"

Matt smirked and let there be a moment's hesitation before he said, "Yeah, yeah I would."

"Thanks." Silence stretched on longer this time. Both of them getting caught up in watching the sky. Finally, Tai's voice broke that silence. "You were right..." he said, "before... in the bath. You were right."

"About what?" Matt asked, his blue eyes searching the sky.

"Me being afraid."

Matt just sighed, leaning his head back a bit more. "It's normal, I guess."

"Not for you. You're hardly ever afraid of anything. You're always so cool and walk around with a level head on your shoulders. Nothing gets to you."

Matt shrugged. "Well, I'm just awesome," he said, looking over at Tai. "But being scared's a normal thing. Besides, I bet you'll overcome it soon enough. You're good at that."

Tai leaned forward against his knees. "But I start thinking... What if we're trapped here forever, even after we fix everything? What if it's just one thing after another? We finish this task only to be given another. Like some never ending RPG game or something. I don't feel like I have the strength or courage to lead everyone for that long. I feel like... eventually I would just break, y'know?"

"You don't think that you'll be so used to it that it'll become second nature?" Matt asked, only to catch himself and murmur, "b-but, that's not gonna be it. We're gonna find a way out've here, one way or another."

Tai rubbed his face and let his fingers move up into his hair. "Yeah... I sure hope so. Because to be honest, the answer to your question is no. As much as I hate to admit. The answer is still no, but I would put on that mask anyway. I would be brave and strong and resourceful for as long as I could. I wouldn't let anyone else see how afraid I really was. Someone has to keep everyone together, keep their spirits up. I feel like that has to be me. Not because I want to, but maybe because no one else really can."

Matt just shrugged, looking back at the sky. "Maybe, Tai. Or maybe one of us will surprise you one day. Don't worry about the future so much when we could just look for a way out of this whole mess now," he said, lightly tapping Tai's hand with his own. "Okay?"

The brown-haired boy nodded. "Yeah okay. Thanks, Matt."

The two of them sat there for the rest of the afternoon, but the sky was just as clear as ever. No auroras, not even a single indication of one. The sun had started to set, the sky turning a brilliant orange and pink, before Matt said, "...I guess I was wrong."

"Maybe it's not time yet," Tai said, trying to reassure his friend. "It's not time for us to go home, so maybe it's not showing itself. Doesn't mean you're wrong." He looked back out at the sunset. "At least we got to see something else pretty happen up there. I don't think orange and pink are that pure back home."

"...Yeah, it is pretty vibrant," Matt agreed. His teeth had started to chatter from being out in the cold so long with no sleeves, sitting in the snow with an even colder wind coming up off the water.

Tai looked over at the blond, now noticing the grey hue on his skin. Gabumon did say something about Matt getting lost out in the snow last night. Apparently his body was slipping back into the freezing state. "We have to get you out of the cold," he said. Tai helped Matt to his feet. He took off the blue band underneath his goggles and set it over the blond's ears. "I think you're hypothermic again."

"I'm fine," Matt insisted, looking down at the ground when Tai put the band over his ears. "It's kinda cold out here, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"I bet that's what you said last night, too." Even if Matt didn't want the help, Tai put one arm around his shoulders and they climbed back up a slope leading to the forest. It was dark by the time they reached the trees and fresh snow was starting to fall. Tai could feel Matt's shivering increase in his hold. "Hey... Are you okay?"

"I-I'm f-fine!" Matt repeated, though he was shaking more and his extremities were starting to turn an icy blue. He kept insisting on trying to break away from Tai and walk on his own. That was until he suddenly collapsed, passing out face-down in the snow.

"Yamato!" Tai knelt down beside the blond, shaking him. "Yamato, get up! We can't stop! You'll freeze!" But it was no use. Matt was out cold. Literally. Tai took Matt's arms and hauled him onto his back. Carrying the other body was hard, but he found the strength.

"Not again!" Gabumon cried when they got back to the cave.

"I'll take care of him," Tai insisted. He laid Matt down by the fire and then moved to the mouth of the cave. There was too much cold air getting in, so he spent the next two hours building a wall of snow. By the time he was done, his fingers were frostbitten and he was completely worn out. Moving back to Matt, who was still pale blue in color, Tai did all he could think of. Gabumon couldn't sacrifice his own fur again, so the boy gave up his clothes. His own blue shirt was put on Matt and even his gloves and socks were used as secondary layers. Finally, Tai curled up beside the fire with Matt held close to his chest.

It was quite a while before Matt finally stirred. He groaned quietly, his hand weakly grabbing at the front of Tai's yellow shirt. His blue eyes blinked confusedly, and after a moment he looked up at the other boy. "Tai?"

His own brown eyes blinked open as well. Tai's hair was a mess hanging around his face without the goggles to hold it all up. He offered a tired smile to the blond. "Hey, Matt... Feeling better?"

Matt narrowed his eyes slightly, before groaning once more. "Don't tell me I passed out in the snow again..."

"I won't, but I'd be lying."

"...Damn it," Matt muttered, his hand gripping a bit tighter. He wanted to move away, but he was too weak and cold to even consider it.

"Here, you're still kind of that grayish-blue color." Tai sat up, took off his yellow shirt, and added it to the layers on Matt's body. The blond needed it more than he did. Tai also moved them closer to the fire without being in danger of getting burned. "It's okay, Matt. You don't have sleeves or a giant brown bush on your head to keep you warm." He added the latter with a chuckle. "Just don't go making snow angels first thing in the morning, okay?"

Matt chuckled weakly, but it got cut off with a few coughs. He sighed, curling up against Tai. "I hate the cold," he murmured, burying his head and closing his eyes again.

Tai nodded. "Yeah... Me too." Matt couldn't believe Tai did this for him. He expected to wake up next to the fire, but not wearing Tai's extra clothes and curled up against him. This kind of thing from Gabumon made sense, but not Tai. Not the kid he was always at odds with, the kid he'd punched for voicing his opinion just that morning. But as his eyes fluttered shut and the world slowly slipped away, he couldn't help but think that the warmth and the silence were sort of... pleasant. Before falling back asleep, Tai noticed how Matt's hair smelled a lot like mountain moss. It was a natural scent, kind of sweet, and very fresh. 'It's nice,' he thought, before sleep took him.


	3. Waves and Webs

Tai awoke hours later, only guessing that it must have been morning by then. He glanced down at Matt's face and smiled to see the healthy peach color back in his complexion. Matt even felt warmer in his arms. Tai thought about getting up, stretching a bit, and maybe taking down the wall, but... He then decided that laying here with Matt wasn't so bad, so he stayed there instead; just sort of daydreaming. Matt was still asleep, breathing quietly and evenly, much different than the raspy gasps he'd been just barely wheezing the night before. Occasionally, his grip on Tai's shirt tightened or loosened, or his foot twitched, but it didn't seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon. After a while, Tai started to feel eyes on him. He glanced up to see Gabumon standing a foot or so away with a worried look on his face. Tai smiled a sat up, taking one of his shirts back as he did so. "Matt's much warmer now. I think he'll be okay." Gabumon just nodded and came to sit beside his boy, petting his hair gently. Tai decided to move then, giving the yellow Digimon some time alone with Matt. He got up to walk around and stretch his legs.

It was still an hour or so before Matt came too, shivering suddenly and grabbing at empty ground. When his had hit the cold dirt, he woke up, realizing he wasn't curled up next to Tai anymore. He sighed, rolling over only to spot Gabumon. "Oh! Uh, g'morning Gabumon."

Gabumon offered a smile. "Good morning, Matt. How are you feeling? You gave us quite another scare last night."

"Much better. Sorry..." Matt said, sitting himself up and rubbing his arms to warm them slightly, only to realize he was still wearing Tai's blue shirt, though the yellow one was gone. "Hey, where's Tai?"

Gabumon pointed towards the front of the cave. "He is taking down the wall he built last night. I tried giving his gloves back, but he insisted you needed them more. Tai was by your side all night, Matt. He took good care of you. I was a little surprised after the way you two have been fighting."

Matt stood up, brushing himself off. "Well, fighting or not, we need to survive. And if he scratches my back, I'll scratch his," the blond said simply, before making his way over to the mouth of the cave, raising an eyebrow when he saw Tai taking down the snow wall with no gloves, letting his hands get frostbitten and raw. "Here," he said, holding out the extra pair of gloves. "Don't be stupid and use these."

Tai shook his head without even looking at the gloves. "You're the one who was hypothermic and practically dying last night. Put them back on and go back to the fire. The snow layered up last night in the storm, so this may take a while. We can find food once we get out of here."

Matt growled, grabbing Tai's hands and forcing the gloves back on. "You're not doing either of us any favors by freezing your hands! I'll go back to the fire, but use the damn gloves," he snapped, storming back over to the fire before Tai could make him take them back.

Tai looked over his shoulder as Matt walked off, grumbling under his breath, so the boy stuck his tongue out at him. "You're welcome," he sneered. Matt sat heavily next to the fire, putting his knees close to his chest and his head in his hand, watching Tai slowly start taking down the snow wall. It got on his nerves. The way Tai would listen to him sometimes to sate him, but at others had this unbreakable stubbornness. Eventually, he became bored, and knew he'd get scolded if he moved away from the fire to try and help, so he grabbed his harmonica from his back pocket and started to play. Tai listened to the moody melody for a while. The music was so unlike what he was used to hearing. Tai was always swept up the latest pop rock sensation, never making himself loyal to one band in particular. Matt's music was foreign, literally. "So... You into that depressing American stuff? What do they call it... Blues?"

"What do you expect me to play on a harmonica?" Matt asked sarcastically when he finally finished his song and moved the instrument away from his lips.

Brown eyes rolled in aggravation. "Well, yeah, but... like... Why did you get into the harmonica in the first place? Blues aren't that big here. I kinda wonder where you even heard it in the first place. Not many people in Japan spreading the movement, y'know?"

"I want a guitar," Matt said with a bit of a sigh. "But we can't afford a guitar. Or at least, my dad doesn't want to buy me one. So until I'm old enough to get a job and get one for myself, he bought me this, since it was the cheapest instrument he could find that's more advanced than a triangle." He shrugged, leaning back against the cave wall. "But I guess it's kinda grown on me."

Tai nodded. "That's cool. I can't even carry a tune in a bucket." He glanced over his shoulder again with a smile. "You're really good, though. If it means anything."

Matt perked up at the praise. "Yeah?" he asked, holding the harmonica tightly in his hand. "You think so?"

"Yeah, totally. I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it was true. You've got talent, Matt. I say stick things out and work for that guitar. You'll be hardcore some day, I bet."

Matt actually grinned at that. The smile spread across his face in a way that it never did. "Thanks."

Tai was sure he'd never seen Matt smile like that before. It was both entertaining and slightly disturbing. "Careful you don't split your face," he teased.

Matt jolted and quickly regained back his typical solemn expression. "Right, well..." He coughed quickly, before picking up the harmonica and occupying himself with another song.

Tai finally got the wall down. Matt's music was a nice distraction, making the time go by faster. He had to shield his eyes from the sun for moment. Oddly, it felt warmer than it had yesterday. Then Tai realized it was because they had landed on the beach. "Hey! We're back on File Island!"

"What?" Matt asked, looking out at the snow-covered landscape. Sure enough, where the forest usually ended to become water, there was instead a beach waiting for them. "Oh, sweet!" The blond at once leapt to his feet, running to the mouth of the cave. "We can finally get off this damn iceberg!" Tai nodded and sprinted forward, laughing with relief. At least now they were in familiar territory. Matt got the Digimon to follow them and hopped down onto the beach as well, following Tai and laughing just as he was. He really hated the cold, he really did. "So, what now?"

Tai shrugged. "Food?"

Matt nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me." He looked around the beach, but it didn't look like there was anything edible close by. There never was. "Either we try our luck fishing or we climb up to the forest."

"Well, if we stay down here we'll be able to see anything that comes at us, right? And I bet the Digimon are good at catching fish."

"Well, they don't swim like Gomamon... or make the fish jump on the land like he does, granted." Matt turned around to see Agumon helping Gabumon off the ridge of ice. "Hey! You guys up for some fishing?"

Soon enough, the morning and afternoon had been devoted to attempting to catch fish from the small stream emptying out onto the beach, since the waves were too strong coming in from the ocean. Agumon had started a huge fire and Matt had cooked the fish, leaving Tai to scout around the area with that tiny telescope of his. By the time it was just beginning to get a bit darker, they were eating cooked fish and sitting in a small cove on the beach. It was barely a cave, more like a small overhang in the rock, and they were still sitting on the soft sand, but it was better than sleeping out in the open. Agumon and Gabumon were already asleep, curled up by the fire to dry off, tired out from swimming against the current and chasing down the fish. Matt and Tai were sitting at the other end of the overhang, watching the sun set on another day and discussing whatever Tai saw. Tai scratched his jaw. "Well, Infinity Mountain isn't in close sights. I had to climb a tree to get it in the telescope and even then it was small. Looks like we're pretty far from where we started." He pointed across Matt. "To the east is a small mountain range. The mountains are small, but they stretch a long way." He then pointed on the other side of himself. "To the west is a jungle. I know you like staying in the open more, but I really think the jungle will be easier. It could take us a whole day getting over just one mountain. We could be scaling the entire range for weeks before we came to anything else. The jungle is dense and can provide cover, plus there are more food sources."

"This time, I agree with you," Matt said, looking either way, even though he couldn't see much from the beach. "We don't have time to be climbing any mountains aside from Infinity Mountain. We'll go through the jungle first. Plus, I bet if anyone else is here, they probably had a similar idea."

Brown eyes glanced over at the sleeping Digimon. "We'll have to find fresh water at some point and try storing it in something. We can't let them get too weak. Since there's only two of us, we're weaker against enemy Digimon, so we need every advantage. Remember in health class how we learned that humans can survive three days without food or water? We have to try that, just in case they're limited. Agumon and Gabumon need it more. Don't you think?"

"Right," Matt said, blue eyes also stealing a glance at their Digimon. "It is more important that we feed them before we feed ourselves. Luckily we got enough fish for everyone today, but we need to move on to that jungle tomorrow. Hopefully we'll find some fruit or something."

"Good thing I paid attention in scouts," Tai said with a laugh. "Maybe with my camping skills and your common sense, we might actually live through this."

Matt actually let loose a tiny chuckle. "Hopefully," he said, leaning back against the wall of the cove. "Of course, if we do make it through this, we mostly have them to thank. They're doing so much for us."

Tai nodded. "I try to make it up to Agumon, but he always insists that he's just glad I'm here. He makes it sound like they've been waiting for years for us to get here. Do you think it's weird... That they knew us before we even knew this place existed? I mean... Who else has been watching us, y'know?"

Matt just shrugged, looking up at the sky. "It's a very interesting thought. Why they waited or how they even knew to wait... how they knew us when they saw us," he said, tapping his fingers on his knees. "Makes you think."

"Kinda reminds me of that Big Brother conspiracy America is so hung up over. We read about it in world government class. I thought they were all just weird and paranoid, but now... Sorta feels like maybe there's something to it." Tai leaned back on his hands. "And then there's aliens and stuff."

Matt just sighed, shaking his head. "It's mind boggling. I prefer not to worry myself with that junk. I'll just go with the flow, higher powers or aliens or whatever... or not."

"Wish I could let go so easily. I pretend like stuff isn't there, but really it's on the backburner, boiling and turning into a bigger mess." Tai laughed at himself. "I like to think a smile and a can-do attitude will fix all my problems."

"If only," Matt said, looking at the sky. After a moment, he turned his head a bit to glance at Tai out of the coner of his eye. "But it's better you do that. It's that attitude that makes everyone like you and follow you, after all."

"Until I crack," Tai mumbled. Tai felt those blue eyes on him, so he met the gaze carefully. "Look, Matt, I know it's none of my business, but there's been talk at school. I'm really sorry about your parents. It can't be easy for you or TK. Obviously I don't know what it's like, but... I'm just sorry, I guess."

Matt just stared at Tai for a moment. His blue eyes were hard, the color of the waves pushing in at the beach. He had a completely unreadable expression, and for a while, it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything. But finally, he slumped his shoulders forward, leaning against his knees and turning to look at the horizon, where the sun was setting. "Don't be."

Tai slung his arm over Matt's shoulder. "Too bad, cause I am. So there."

Matt sighed, looking back at Tai again. "You're a pain, you know that?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's stitched inside my underwear." Matt couldn't help but snort amusedly, putting a hand over his nose when he did and covering the slight curl of his lips. Tai then gave him a friendly push. "Like I'm that big of a dork. No, my mom just sews little messages on the tags. 'Be good.' 'Brush your teeth.' 'Eat your veggies.' 'I love you.' 'Clean your room.' 'Don't pick your nose.' 'Don't touch yourself.' 'No stray pets.'" He smirked. "The usual."

"The usual?" Matt asked, snickering again despite himself. He wasn't exactly sure what about Tai made him break down and start laughing at his jokes, since he usually wasn't one to start laughing at humor, no matter how amusing he found it in his own thoughts.

"Sure, you know. 'Eat plenty of fiber.' 'Don't steal.' 'Stay out of your father's magazine collection.' 'Make good grades.' 'Don't start fights.' 'Remember to wear clean underwear.' 'Only shake twice.'"

"Only shake twice?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Stay out of your father's magazine collection? Don't touch yourself?" Matt gave Tai an odd look. "Either your mom is really paranoid or you're more of a troublemaker than I thought."

Tai laughed with a shrug. "She's been reading a lot of books on raising pre-pubescent boys. Apparently we get into more trouble than we realize."

Matt snorted, smirking a bit. "Oh yeah, I've heard that spiel before. Don't forget that this generation's crazy and rebellious compared to last. Or so thinks my mom."

"Because the internet is a gateway to any flith our young, horny minds can soak up." Tai raised a finger and spoke in a mocking logical tone. "We're sexually impressionable at this age, you know. We're noticing girls now and we may have special thoughts, but we should keep them to ourselves."

Matt had to laugh; only because he'd heard almost that exact speech from his dad not that long ago. It was extra funny for him, of course, for reasons he kept to himself, but either way the speech wasn't foreign. "Oh man, you sound like my dad," he gasped between chuckles.

"Really? Dude, no, no... Get this. After my mom gave me that lecture, my dad picked me up from the school the next day and he gave me this little box. I swear, man, inside was this lacey thong and panties. No lie. He told me I could have them to help deal with my urges as long as I stayed off porn sites and didn't screw around with girls. I couldn't believe it! They're still in my bed hidden under the matress."

Matt laughed, waving his hand. "Oh man, no, wait. Okay, my dad went out and got me these," he said, rummaging around in his pocket. He pulled out a few small square packets, snorting loudly at them. "I don't know what he thinks I'm doing, but I was confused out of my mind when he gave me these. Do you know what they are, Tai?"

"Matt, those are condoms," Tai answered with a raised eyebrow, holding back his snickers. "Please tell me you know that by now. Or do I have to draw you a picture in the sand here?"

"Oh, is that it? Why do they look like individually wrapped candy?" Matt asked, turning on of the packages over in his hand. "They don't want kids picking 'em up and then they put them in bright wrappers."

"Okay, one: They aren't sold in the candy isle, and two: You buy them in a box that actually says condoms on the front."

"How should I know? He just shoved them in my hand one night. I didn't buy 'em."

Tai shook his head. "He didn't even take you to the mart where they're sold? My dad did that. We walked through the aisle straight back to the pharmacy section and there was this wrack of 'em. There's like... ten different kinds too." He laughed again. "They even come in different sizes."

"That's just weird," Matt said, stuffing them back in his pocket. "My dad just kinda grunted and handed them over before he left to go order my takeout. He's not home a lot, so I'm not surprised he didn't take me to the store."

"He just thinks his stud of a son is out lovin' the ladies," Tai joked and puched the other boy in the arm. "He knows girls must be swooning over your good looks and no care attitude. You're like the sexy bad boy."

Matt laughed nervously, rubbing his arm. "Yeah, girls," Matt said oddly, nodding his head. "They probably are... but if they are, I haven't noticed."

"Wait..." Tai looked genuinely confused at that point. "You mean you really don't notice all the googoo eyes girls make at you when you walk down the hall? Are you blind?"

Matt shrugged, leaning back against the rock wall of the cove and putting his hands behind his head. "Apparently. I guess I just don't pay attention."

"Well..." Tai began drawing shapes in the sand. "Exactly what do you pay attention to?"

Matt's pale face turned red slightly, but he shrugged it off, saying, "Music... and that's about it."

"That's cool. I'm a sheep when it comes to music, just following the latest hot band. What I'm really into his soccer, but that's obvious." Tai shifted to lay his head in Matt's lap because he didn't want sand in his hair. "I'm not a book person. Kari likes books. I'm more into sports and TV. There's this show I love called Ninja Warrior. I'm gonna be on it someday. I figure I just have to train hard enough. Maybe after my first year in high school I'll try out."

Matt just chuckled slightly at how long Tai could just talk to himself. "Yeah, I noticed that you're into soccer," he said idly, eyes sliding shut. "You go to practice every other day after school, right?"

Tai nodded. "Yeah. On the weekends I go with some of the guys on the team to the park. We join up with other kids and play a few games together. I remember one time there was this monster rainstorm. The field was all mud puddles. We got so soaked that we just ended up running and kicking and sliding around in just out shorts. Everything was too dirty and wet to wear. It was awesome, except my mom threw a fit."

Matt grinned. "You probably didn't see me, but I was there, actually. I was passing the park on my way home. Everyone was too covered in mud for me to really tell who was who, though. But it's hard to mistake this, wet or not," Matt said this as he tugged slightly at Tai's messy hair, snickering.

Tai batted Matt's hand away. "At least I don't look like I stuck my head in a weed whacker."

Matt looked offended, and quickly snapped back, "At least that means I'd have cut my hair once in a while."

"How do you know mine just doesn't grow really fast?" he returned with a smirk.

"Because I see you nearly every day around town. You don't cut it," Matt said very matter-of-factly.

Tai raised an eyebrow. "You stalking me? Can't get enough of my irresitably lovable charisma?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Matt said, putting his hands behind his head again. "It's usually by chance."

"Don't kid yourself," Tai returned. He reached up to fondle Matt's blond hair. "Obviously the universe wants us to be better, closer friends."

Matt smacked Tai's hand away. "You're so damn weird, dude."

"Oh, and you aren't? You don't think there's something to what I just said?"

Matt quirked an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

Tai cast his eyes upward. "Well... Why the two of us? Why not somebody else? The universe could have picked other kids in another camp somewhere."

"Yeah, but there's seven of us," Matt snorted. "The universe, by your logic, could just as easily be telling all of us to get closer and you're just focusing on us."

"Only because we hate each other the most."

Blue eyes cast themselves over at Tai, and he sighed quietly. "I don't hate you, Tai."

"Punching me in the face felt like hate."

"I said I didn't hate you. I didn't say you don't piss me off."

The boy started to draw shapes in the sand again. "I don't hate you either. I guess... I just get frustrated. We're so much alike that we can't get along."

"We're not completely alike," Matt said, watching as Tai's finger ran through the sand. "And we usually disagree, if you haven't noticed."

"But it's like when you have a magnet and you can't make north and north stick together. We're both head strong and independent guys. We both have good ideas. We both take control when a situation gets bad. We're so alike, but still different enough to repel." Tai stopped drawing and stared at the labyrinth if lines he had made. "Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Matt hummed, resting his head in his hand as he idly reached his finger forward and started following the lines Tai had made, making them wider with his gloved finger. "We need to learn to make those similarities common ground rather than a reason to butt heads."

Tai laughed slightly. "Only I bet both of us are too impatient to learn."

"Probably," Matt said with a smirk. "But if we deal with each other long enough, something's bound to happen."

Tai nodded. "Yeah..."

It was then that Matt yawned, putting his hand over his mouth and closing his eyes, tilting his head back. "We better get some sleep so we can get up and start traveling early tomorrow."

"I'm not really that tired. You get some sleep and I'll stay up to keep watch for a while longer. It would totally suck if some giant mutant crab Digimon got the jump on us while we were sleeping."

Matt cracked one eye open. "Well, alright. But then wake me up when you want to sleep, okay? It won't help much if you're tired out in the morning."

Tai nodded. "Yeah, okay." The boy was quiet for a few minutes. His brown eyes were trained on the shore, watching the waves break on the sand. Breaking the silence he said quietly, "'Night, Matt."

Matt had closed his eyes, quietly saying, "Night, Tai."

The hours passed and Tai grew increasingly restless. Not only was he worried about the others, but he couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu he'd been having since they got to the Digital World. The sensation had only been mild at first, like maybe he was remembering a movie or video game, but the more Digimon they ran into, the more familiar everything was feeling. Tai got up at one point and gathered drift wood for the fire. He drew more pictures in the sand; big drawings of creatures even the Greeks would be jealous of. Finally he just kicked off his shoes and started running through the water. Tai ran further and further down the beach until the sun started to come up and he had to turn around.

Matt eventually stirred, opening his eyes to the sight of the sun rising higher in the sky, and Tai trudging back to their tiny campsite. It took him a minute to shake that groggy morning feeling and register what was going on, but he suddenly shot upright, rubbing his eyes and yelling, "You didn't wake me up!"

"I never got tired," he replied with a smirk and a shrug. "I actually feel great, though. I think I came full circle, like when you pass the point of exhaustion and get a new boost of energy."

"Okay, that's great, Tai, but now you could crash in the middle of the day!" Matt snapped, practically jumping to his feet. "And we have to find the others! If you get exhausted in the middle of the day, we're not stopping."

"Fine by me." Tai got his shoes back and began nudging Agumon and Gabumon with his foot. "Wake up you guys. Time to move out!" Both Digimon rolled around and groaned for a few seconds before actually getting up.

"It's been a long time since we got to sleep like that!" Agumon was saying as he stretched and stood up. Matt just snorted, having already brushed himself off and straightened himself out, even getting his hair back into that perfect style with a bit of ruffling the bangs that had fallen in his eyes.

Gabumon wandered over to his boy and looked up into blue eyes. "Have you eaten yet this morning, Matt? I will gladly go fishing again for you."

"No, you don't have to get all wet again, Gabumon. We're heading to the jungle, we can find some fruit or something there."

Gabumon nodded. "All right." Tai was already running ahead, laughing and taunting Agumon to keep up. As the boys departed, Tai's fantasical drawings were being washed away by the ocean. "He's very energetic this morning," Gabumon said.

"He's gonna use up all his energy and start complaining in a few hours," Matt said lowly. "I guarantee it."

Tai would be up in a tree after an hour. He was reaching for a bunch of what he was pretty sure were bananas hanging from an overhead branch. Finally managing to grab them, he leaped down to the ground and held them up for the others to see. "Do you think these bananas are safe to eat even though they're purple? I mean... A banana is a banana, right? They aren't bruised or mushy."

"We might as well take a shot." Matt said, bravely plucking one and peeling back the skin. The fruit inside was a pale purple color, but it didn't seem to phase the blond, who just bit into it with abandon. He made a face at the fruit. "It's pretty bitter."

Tai frowned. "Maybe we shouldn't... Sweet is pretty safe. We should find something that actually tastes good." He turned to their monster companions. "What do you guys usually eat?"

Agumon shrugged. "Anything we can find that smells good!"

Matt stared at the banana for a second before taking another bite. "You guys look for something safer, then. I'll take my chances with these."

"Matt, what if you get sick?" Tai said and reached out to take back the purple fruit. He made sure not to use force and piss Matt off, but rather slip it from the other boy's hand. "We can't afford to have anyone fall."

Matt's hand tightened on the fruit. "We may have to roll the dice with this if we can't find anything better. Let me at least hold onto them in case we can't find anything while we travel."

Tai nodded. "Okay, I can live with that." He turned back to the Digimon. "See if you guys can sniff anything out." Both nodded and put their noses to the air. Gabumon found a bed of flowers serving home to little bugs which he promplty licked up with his reptile tongue. Tai made a disgusted face, nose wrinkling and tongue sticking out. "Preferably something that won't crawl on the way down."

"Why?" Agumon asked, spearing a bunch of bugs on his claws and sliding his mouth over them, licking off each one. "It's protein!"

"Uh, I agree with Tai. Maybe something less... crawly," Matt said quietly.

Gabumon's unyeilding need to make Matt happy sent him on the search once more. His nose sniffed high and low for something his boy would like. Soon he caught whiff of something light and sweet, so he followed the scent to a bush covered in pink berries. Gabumon tried one for himself, finding the taste to be quite pleasing along with a lack of poisonous or seizure-like consequences. "Over here, Matt," he called. "I believe you will like these."

Matt waved for Agumon and Tai to follow him before jogging over to the bush. "What'd you find, buddy?" he asked, crouching down to get a better look at the berries. He put the bananas to the side and took one of the berries in his mouth, wincing, as if expecting that bitter taste again. But his blue eyes lit up, and he looked over his shoulder at Tai and Agumon and gave them a thumbs up.

"Awesome!" Tai joined them at the bush. He picked a handful for Agumon and then began picking some for himself. "Wow, these are really good."

"Yeah, they are," Matt said, nodding. "We should take a few branches and save 'em."

"I would be easier to pick some and put them in a little bag." Tai grabbed some of the large palm leaves hanging overhead, ripped them into long halves, and then weaved them into a portable basket. "We can fit more in here than just dragging some branches around."

Matt looked impressed, nodding. He stripped the branches of their berries, dumping handfuls into the basket. "Awesome. We'll keep these as a ration in case we ever end up somewhere where we can't find food."

Tai laughed. "Especially since we can't depend on mysterious mansions and hotels to feed us anymore."

Matt smirked slightly. "We probably shouldn't have depended on them in the first place," he said, standing up with the basket in hand. It was as full as it was going to get. "We should keep moving. We've still got a lot of daylight, and hopefully we can make it to the very base of the mountain before sundown. That way we can find a cave or something to wait for the others in."

Tai nodded and followed after Matt. The boys were relatively quiet for a long time, only having idle conversations with their respective Digimon. While walking through a particularly open part of the jungle, that is, lush foliage with a high canopy, Tai felt as though there were little strings or hairs on his body. He tried rubbing them off only to become frustrated as the sensation would not go away. Eventually he stopped and picked one of the strings off his arm. Upon closer inspection he found it to be a thin silver strand of web. "What the...? Ah!" An even more disturbing sensation took over when thousands of tiny legs began crawling beneath his clothes. "What the hell?" he shouted as dozens of tiny spiders began crawling all over his body. Tai hit his own body trying to get rid of them, but there were so many. "Matt! Matt!"

"What?" Matt shouted, spinning around in his tracks to look at Tai. His expression was one of alarm, but it was hard to keep as he watched Tai jump around and hit himself trying to be rid of spiders. The blond quickly stopped himself from laughing and ran over to Tai's side. "Uh... uh.. Gabumon! See if there's any water nearby he can jump in! Take your clothes off, most of 'em will probably come off with them!"

Gabumon nodded and ran off in search of a river or pool. "This isn't funny!" Tai shouted when he saw the smirk on Matt's face. He managed his shoes and shirts off and had pulled off one glove when his arm was suddenly made immobile. "Hey!" Tai tried jerking his arm free, but the tiny spiders were busy at work wrapping their thread around his arm. Next Tai felt a tightening around his throat. Before he could make a grab for the choke thread, the boy was pulled high into the air where hissing laughter echoed from the trees. "Matt! Help!" Tai cried while trying to keep his windpipe from getting squeezed.

"Tai!" Matt shouted, grabbing fruitlessly for the strands, but it was almost impossible to even see them. He couldn't do anything with Gabumon gone. Blue eyes scanned the trees for whomever was laughing, and he looked at Agumon, making a motion with his hands for him to Digivolve, pointing to Tai without really being able to get the words out. Agumon nodded and soon there was a bright flash, before Geymon was hacking away at the air, trying to find the near invisible web to cut Tai down.

"'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly," the laughing voice spoke in a haunting, melodius way. "'Tis the prettiest parlor that ever you did spy; The way into my parlor is up a winding stair, and I have many curious things to show you when you are there.'" She descended from the canopy; a Digimon like that of a black widow. Her very feminine voice drifted from a mean looking, golden plated face, which sat upon a shiny black thorax marked with a skull, her eyes were bright green through and through, and her fangs bore into a beautifully vicious grin. "I just love little lost boys," she cooed while stroking Tai's chin.

"Get away!" he shouted at her.

Matt grit his teeth, watching Greymon swat fruitlessly at the evil Digimon hanging from the branches above, too worried that using his Nova Blast would mean risking catching the web on fire and burning Tai as well as their opponent. Matt eventually couldn't watch or wait for Gabumon any longer. Soon he was climbing up the nearest tree, pulling himself up from branch to branch to reach the canopy they were on. "Is that any way to treat a lady?" she pouted. "My KoDokugumon worked so hard to bring you to me. I'd hate for their efforts to be wasted. Besides, I hear you've been causing problems for my lord Devimon." Dokugumon moved her face close to Tai's. "He has great plans for Server and I won't let you get in the way of that."

Tai gasped as the air started to leave his lungs. "Server? What p-plans are you talking about?"

She just laughed and smiled. "It doesn't matter anyway." It was then that her fangs came dangerously close to the boy's neck.


	4. Realizations

But before she could get any closer, Matt had launched himself from the branch he was hanging on onto the arachnid Digimon's back. He shouted as he grabbed her hair, slipping off her back, holding tight onto what he'd grabbed to try and bring her tumbling down to the ground with him as he swung dangerously from the web. Multiple snapping noises could be heard as the threads gave way. Tai reached out with his bare hand to grab Matt's just as Dokugumon went tumbling to the jungle floor below. She shrieked terribly as she fell, but instead of squishing, she pixilated into dust. "You're c-crazy," Tai choked with a forced grin.

Matt watched as Dokugumon vanished after the long, dangerous drop, and he just looked up at Tai with a smirk, his breaths short and raspy from the nerve-wracking jump. "Yeah, so?"

"S-So, in the middle of your c-craziness... Did you th-think of how we'd get d-d-down?"

"...No," Matt said, looking down at the ground. Suddenly, the palm of Greymon's hand was below him, and he tugged on Tai's hand. "Let go, we can drop down."

Tai gasped for breath again as he released Matt's hand. He was still tangled in a good bit of the web. He used what strength he had to rip his arm free of the threads encasing it. The hard part was getting the web off his neck, since the silver strands were so close. "Hey... Matt... G-Grab my f-feet and p-p-pull hard... Try g-gett-ting me loose." Matt did as he was told, grabbing Tai's ankles and starting to tug as hard as he could, keeping an eye out to make sure he didn't choke him. The tugging motion put a painful strain on his throat, but Tai felt the threads finally give way which resulted in him falling on top of Matt. He rolled off the blond, all while coughing and wheezing. Tai could feel a warm throb right beneath the dark bruises on his neck which he didn't dare touch. "Thanks," he managed to say.

"Don't mention it," Matt said, rubbing his ribs as Greymon lowered them to the ground before turning back into Agumon. "How's your neck?" Matt asked, crawling over to Tai to check out the bruises, Agumon worriedly doing the same.

"Hurts like you wouldn't believe," he said with a rough cough. "Feels like Greymon stepped on my throat or something. I almost don't want to breath." Tai sat up and looked around for his clothes. He found his socks which he began to pull on, all while making loud wheezing noises as he breathed. "Can you hand me my shoes over there?"

Matt was frowning concernedly, handing Tai his shoes as he was asked. "I wonder if Gabumon ever did find water... We'll set up camp nearby and you can get a drink. Should help the soreness. Besides, after that, I think we need to stop."

"Why?" Tai pulled both his shirt back on and started looking for his glove. "We still have plenty of daylight left. We should push as far as we can."

Gabumon came running through the brush then, water splishing around in a giant leaf he carried with him. "I'm sorry it took so long, Matt. There was only a stream and it was farther than I expected."

Matt opened his mouth to say something, only to look at Gabumon and offer him a bit of a sad smile. "It's okay, Gabumon. Can you show us where it is?" He stood up, looking at Tai. "If you're sure you're cool to keep going, drink that and we'll head for this stream. I bet we can get there by the time we start losing light, if Gabumon had to run the whole way."

"I can make it," Tai said with a nod. He drank down the water Gabumon had brought back with him, wincing at the soreness in the bruised muscles. He got up and beckoned for Agumon to follow, and also thanking the little dinosaur for protecting him.

Orange eyes glanced up at the blond as they walked. "I heard a loud commotion before. Did you all get into a fight? I'm sorry I wasn't there to fight for you. I tried to get back as fast as I could."

"It's okay, Gabumon. We ran into trouble, but we're all in one piece," Matt said, ruffling the fur around Gabumon's horn and then shoving his hands in his pockets. "Looks like Devimon's got goons crawling all over the place. We'll have to be careful, and we can't camp out in the open or leave the fire going when we go to sleep."

Gabumon nodded. "All right. The jungle is warm so a fire is something you can go without. I'll keep watch for you, if you like."

"Thanks, Gabumon. But I think we should go in shifts," he said, emphasizing the word 'shifts'. "That way everyone gets equal rest. Especially you guys; we need you and Agumon well-rested."

Gabumon's ears perked up slightly. "The stream is this way," he said and pointed. "Maybe another half a mile. I can hear the water."

Matt nodded, following his Digimon silently the rest of the way. They got to the stream when the sun was just starting to leave its highest point in the sky. "Looks like we have time. I guess we shoud scout around and see what direction to head in next, then find somewhere concealed to camp," Matt said. "A big hollow tree or something."

"Izzy and I hid inside a tree when we first came here," Tai said. "It looked solid, but the inside was this empty grey space. Maybe we can find something like that, or sleep under the roots." Brown eyes looked one way and then the other. "Well, we should probably follow the stream up. I bet the water is flowing back toward the ocean, so we should go the opposite way."

Matt nodded. "Good plan." They couldn't find another hiding tree like the one Tai described, but they did find a big old tree that was leaning over the water, its roots pulled up to make a small space underneath the tree they could sleep in and remain concealed in the tangle of roots. Tai knelt down by the water's edge. He drank more of the cool liquid in hopes it would ease the pain like Matt suggested. There was some relief, but the dull throb remained. The boy was reminded of the first time he played goalie and the ball hit him square in the face. His nose and left eye were bruised for two weeks. Drinking all he could manage, Tai made his way back up to the coverage of roots. "How's it feeling?" Matt asked. He and Gabumon had managed to catch just a few fish in the small stream, cooking them over a tiny, contained fire.

"Same," Tai replied while pulling off his gloves and touching the tender flesh. "Probably gonna take a few days."

"Ow," Matt murmured with a frown. "Well, nothing we can do about it except be careful. Here." He offered Tai one of the fish, speared on a stick he was using to cook it.

"Thanks." Tai took the fish and ate it slowly. Swallowing was painful, but hunger won over in the end. "Hey, Matt...?"

Matt looked up, turning his own fish over in the fire. "Yeah?"

"Do you ever sort of get the feeling... you've been here before?"

"Here?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow. "No, not really. It's all so new and weird. Why, do you?"

Tai frowned, obviously thinking. "Yeah... Kind of." He stared down at his half eaten fish. "When we first got here, the feeling was real small. I thought maybe I played a video game like this once when I was little or something, but then... That first time Agumon digivolved into Greymon, I got this really weird feeling like I'd seen him before. This... creepy deja vu."

Matt just stared at him, before shrugging his shoulders. "That's weird, man. But it's probably nothing."

Brown eyes shifted to look at Matt. "You really... Don't feel like that? At all?"

Matt shook his head. "No, not really."

"Tch, great..." Tai snickered tiredly. "Now I'm going crazy. That's good."

"Doesn't mean you're going crazy. If anything, we all are." Matt said, taking his fish from the fire and blowing on it.

The boy leaned back with his hands behind his head. "I just can't shake this familiar feeling. I just don't know how I could know this place from when I was little. We had no idea it was here."

"Maybe it really was a movie or video game and you're reading into it too much," Matt suggested.

"I guess," he sighed. "Dinosaurs and birds... That's all I keep thinking about. Like... I could smell electricity and then the sky fell apart. Then this big dinosaur and giant bird were duking it out."

Matt stared at the fire thoughtfully, but eventually sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, man. Nothing comes to mind. Maybe if I keep it in mind it'll come to me."

"Right... maybe."

Matt leaned back against one of the roots, finally tearing into his little scrap of a dinner. There was a long silence in which the two just ate, but when Matt's fish was just discarded bones, he finally murmured, "Hey, Tai. Thanks for listening today."

The boy looked confused. "Listening to what?"

"Me," Matt said, blues eyes looking up at Tai. "We didn't fight today, did we?"

Tai smiled. "No, we didn't. I guess that means we get gold stars for good behavior, huh?"

Matt chuckled. "We should," he said, picking idly at the bark of the stick he'd sharpened. "I just wanted to say thanks, I guess."

"No problem." A loud crack signaled the breaking of the roots Tai was leaning against. He tumbled over, landing on Matt for the second time today. He groaned softly since his neck managed to hit the blond's shoulder. Tai pushed himself up, now staring down into storm colored eyes. "Not my day, huh? Sorry man."

"Don't be sorry, you okay?" Matt asked, getting on his hands and knees to again lean in and look rather closely at Tai's bruises. "You really need to be careful."

Tai looked a little nervous with Matt so close. "Not like I did it on purpose."

"I know," Matt said, turning Tai's chin up a bit with one finger to see how high the bruises went.

Tai could feel the throbbing get worse, but only because his pulse was going so much faster now. He tried to swallow, only for the lump to stick in his throat. "It... It's not that bad," he breathed. "I'll, uh... I'll live."

"I don't know if spider webs in this world work the same as the ones in our world. We should make sure it's just bruising and nothing more," Matt said, leaning a bit closer and throwing off his glove, one finger ghosting over the bruises a bit.

Brown eyes flew upward and fingers gripped the tangle of roots below. Tai internally shouted at his heart to stop pounding so loud and hard, afraid Matt would happen to hear it. He swallowed again with no luck. Even his face was starting to heat up. "I like boys!" he blurted out suddenly.

Matt froze, looking incredibly confused at the sudden statement. It took him a minute to process it, before he leaned back just a little bit to look up at Tai inquisitively. "Excuse me?"

Tai clenched his jaw shut. Oh hell... Did he really just say that out loud? He shifted uncomfortably before saying very quietly, "Nothing..."

Matt sat back on his feet, his face a strange shade of pink. "No, really. What?"

"I..." Tai wouldn't meet Matt's eyes. "I said I like boys, okay?"

"Uh-huh, I got that much," Matt said, "So what does that have to do with-... oh." He stopped himself, looking down at the ground.

"Sorry... I don't know why I said that. It was really stupid. I just..." Tai sighed. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Matt said quietly, standing up and walking outside of the wall of roots. He said with his back to the wall of tangled roots, right behind where Tai was sitting. He said nothing more, and didn't even seem to react. He'd simply taken out his harmonica and started to play.

Tai grabbed his hair and growled in frustration. "Way to go..." he said to himself. "Now he knows you're a fag... Agh! Idiot!" Tai pressed his forehead against his knees. Why did he have to go and do that? Matt probably thought Tai was crushing on him now, which wasn't true at all. They were just friends. Very rough around the edges friends. Now he'd gone and screwed it all up.

There was quite a long time where Matt just played his harmonica, watching the sky and thinking. He was debating every second weather to play another note or use that breath to say something. It was quite a long time, and a few songs, before he finally put it away and murmured from his side of the wall of roots, "Hey, Tai."

"Yeah?" he replied wearily.

Matt was quiet for another moment, tapping his fingers on the shiny surface of his harmonica. "That makes two of us."

Tai laughed, but sounding more like he was in pain. "Don't make fun of me, Matt. That's not cool. If you think it's weird, then fine, but... Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not making fun of you," Matt said seriously, tilting his head back and sighing softly.

"There's no way a heart throb like you isn't into girls. You're made for that." Matt didn't say anything. His first reaction was to start yelling because Tai wouldn't believe him, but he stopped himself. Instead there was only a quiet sniffling from his side of the tangled root wall. At first Tai wasn't sure he was hearing right, but soon the sound was coming through clearly. He looked up between the roots to see Matt with his face turned down and faint wet trails on his cheeks. Tai had to swallow down his guilt. Slowly he came out to join the blond, sitting about a foot away so neither got too uncomfortable. "You're not lying, are you?"

Matt shook his head, scrubbing at his blue eyes with the back of his glove. "No..."

"Now I feel like an ass," Tai mumbled.

Matt just inhaled deeply, leaning back against the root wall and wiping his face completely dry. "Don't," he murmured quietly.

"...When did you figure it out?"

"Not too long after my parents split up," Matt said, looking at his shoes.

Tai nodded. "Can I ask you how?"

Matt shrugged. "When you're home alone a lot, you get a lot of time to think about..." He paused, blue eyes glancing over at Tai and then back at the ground. "Stuff. Y'know."

Tai nodded again. "Sounds a lot less embarrassing to find out that way." He picked a stray weed growing up from the roots.

Matt looked up slightly. "What about you?"

"Remember that soccer game in the mud we were talking about?"

"Oh..." Matt blushed slightly. Luckily for him, the darkness hid it well, not to mention the moonlight highlighting the pale white of his face too much for it to be prominent. "Yeah."

"I was having too much fun to notice at first. I don't really even like any of the guys on the team, but I guess... With all the testosterone pumping between us, all the energy, all the grunting and shouting, all the wet mud..." Tai shook his head, feeling ashamed. "I went for the ball, but I slipped in a puddle and landed on top of Sano. We slid across the field, sort of stuck together, and when we stopped..." Tai clenched his fist. "I was excited. He could feel it too because he was looking at me like he was going to throw up. Sano pushed me off and I just sat there waiting for it to go away."

Matt had his head in his hand, tapping his chin with one finger. "I... I see," he murmured, turning redder and casting his blue eyes at the ground. He remembered that day. He was there, passing by the gates to the park. And he had watched that game...

"They all wanted to kick me off the team after that. Coach told them it was a poor reason and against the rules. He also tried to convince them it was probably just an accident. I knew he was trying to protect me. Out of the public eye, the team still treats me like the plague or something." Tai picked up a small rock and threw it as hard as he could at the stream. "I didn't ask to be like this!" he shouted, suddenly feeling angry. Angry at himself. "I tried to ignore it! I tried to change, but I can't! Don't they get that I want to like girls? I wish I did... so much... But I don't! Aah! Damn it!"

Matt just watched him get angry, knowing it was best to just let him vent. He'd felt the same way a long time ago. He'd felt this way when his father caught him and didn't understand, and when his mother and father, who'd seemed to be getting more civil despite the divorce, suddenly became even more distant because of their disagreeing veiws when it came to their eldest son. "I know the feeling," was all he said.

Tai was breathing heavily now, his hands clenched in tight, shaking fists. His throat hurt worse now from the strain of screaming. "It's not fair," he said quietly. Tears threatened his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall.

Matt sighed, putting a hand on Tai's thigh. "I know. Just calm down."

"My parents don't even know yet," he admitted. "I haven't told them. I'm so scared of what they'll say or think. I figured I'd carry the secret with me through high school and on to college, then I would tell people. Nobody would care by that point. Then... Kari found me looking at pictures on the computer." Tai laughed. "She's so smart, you know? 'You like boys like girls,' she said, like I didn't know myself. I told her it was a secret and that she wasn't allowed to tell mom or dad." Tai finally began to cry. "I'm forcing my little sister to live with my secret. I probably make her feel as ashamed as I do. What does that make me?"

Matt groaned quietly when he saw tears starting to slip down Tai's cheeks. He couldn't watch this. He stood up, shoving his harmonica in his pocket. He hesitated for a moment, before putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Taichi..." he murmured, uttering his full name for probably the very first time... at least, when he was actually talking to him.

Tai sniffed and looked up at Matt. "What? I'm being a baby, right? I know."

Matt stepped closer, looking unsure of himself. His one hand clenched Tai's shoulder tighter as the other wiped away his tears. "Nah."

Tai's bottom lip trembled slightly as fresh tears welled up in brown eyes. Tai reached out and pulled himself against Matt in a desperate hug. He'd never said any of that out loud to anyone before. Anyone who knew his secret had just figured it out. Matt was told first hand. Thank god he felt the same way, or Tai might not have been able to handle anything that just happened. The boy just cried softly into the green fabric on Matt's shoulder. Matt carefully put a hand on Tai's head, seemingly unsure of what he should do. He gently stroked that head of messy brown hair, too rigid and his heart pounding against his ribcage too hard to do much else. Soon the crying was intermixed with weary laughter. "God, I'm such a pansy." Tai pulled back, trying to muster a smile. "Figures the gays would end up all alone and crying all over each other, huh?"

Matt just groaned, rolling his eyes up to look at the sky rather than at Tai. "I'd rather not start with the stereotypes tonight, Tai."

"I'd rather make stupid jokes than feel sad and pathetic."

Matt just laughed weakly, pulling back from the very rigid hug. "You don't have any reason to feel pathetic, trust me."

"Thanks..." Tai scratched the back of his neck and looked down through the roots where the fire was just about to die. "Guess we should actually get some sleep."

"You head in. I'll keep watch first," Matt said, leaning back against the root wall and crossing his arms.

"You sure? We're probably safe down in there."

"Better safe than sorry. You go ahead."

Tai shrugged and nodded. "Okay, thanks. Wake me when it's my turn." The boy climbed down between the roots and settled beside the dying fire, having found a stable spot among the wood and moss. Matt just watched from between the roots, falling silent with deep thought. He knew that he'd been able to keep himself awake for quite a few hours just thinking about everything Tai had said. And how even though he should have felt bad for him, Matt only felt worse about himself. He stared at the sky and thought for hours until his eyes started to burn with the demand to close, and he woke Tai only to immediately lay down with his back to him and go to sleep.

Tai was really only half awake during his watch. It was good thing nothing happened. Sunlight began breaking through the treetops and even down into their hidden nest. Tai squinted against white light and knew it was time to be moving on. "Matt," he said quietly, shaking the blond. "Time to get up, man. We gotta get moving."

"Yeah, yeah, okay..." Matt said sleepily, batting Tai's hand away and sitting up, rubbing his eyes. He'd then wake the Digimon, and the four of them were soon traveling through the jungle again in the morning sun.

Tai stretched his arms and gave a loud yawn. "Man, I hope this doesn't put us too far out of the way from Infinity Mountain. I know we want to find the others, but it would be great if we met them somewhere close to there. Course, with our luck so far, we'll meet at the farthest point possible." He looked over his shoulder at Matt. "Do you think Infinity Mountain is really where we need to go anymore? Maybe we should try finding this other continent."

"You suggested that already, Tai," Matt said sternly. "We can't even worry about anything more than this island until we find everyone. Don't even think about leaving here until we're all together again. And since Infinity Mountain is where all the black gears are coming from, I'd say it's where we have to head."

Tai frowned. "I never said we were leaving anyone behind. I meant getting off the island after everyone is back together, but... You do have a point about the black gears."

"Right," Matt said, nodding. "We should at least check the mountain out before we go on some crazy ocean trip with no idea where we're going, anyway."

"Hey..." the other boy began slowly. "No one has to know about last night, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Matt said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"What are you guys talking about?" Agumon asked.

"Tai freaked out 'cause he thought he saw an evil Digimon in the river. Turns out it was just a branch," Matt lied with a realistic sounding amused snicker.

Tai smacked Matt in the arm. Why did hiding the truth have to come at his expense? "I think I was allowed to be a little paranoid," he argued. Tai then pointed to the dark bruising on his neck. "I didn't exactly get this while tangled in a ball of yarn." Maybe he was playing in a little too much. "Not like you've never been scared of anything."

Matt grinned, blue eyes casting over at Tai. "Name one time."

"Well I don't know specifically, but you can't have gone your whole life without being scared of something. Didn't you think there was a monster in the closet or under the bed?"

"Nah," Matt said, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't get scared."

"I bet you were scared when your parents told you they were getting a divorce," Tai pointed out. "Weren't you scared it had been your fault?"

Matt stopped walking suddenly, glaring at Tai. "That's different."

"But you were scared," Tai said again. "That's all I'm trying to prove. You've been scared at least once in your life."

"I said it's not the same thing, Tai!" Matt was suddenly shouting, his hands balling into all to familiar fists. "Drop it, will you?"

Tai stopped and turned around to see Matt nearly in a rage. "Geez, man, calm down. Don't get your panties in a wad. Sorry."

"Don't talk to me like that about this, okay? You could never understand what this feels like! Don't even joke about it!"

Brown eyes were wide and his face was blank. Tai never realized Matt felt so strongly about his parents. The guy kept everything bottled up so tightly, wore that mask of indifference so well... How could Tai have known? Maybe he should have. It must be hell to see your parents suddenly not in love anymore. Suddenly not even friends. His mom took his brother. Tai didn't know what he would do without Kari. Finally, he looked down at the ground. "Sorry, Matt." Matt was still shaking with rage for a moment, but slowly, the anger melted away and that cool demeanor he was known for same back in it's place. His fists turned back into hands that slipped into his pockets, and instead of leaning forward, poised for a fight, he leaned back again and resumed walking. Tai let Matt walk ahead a ways. He wanted to give the other boy his space. They both probably needed it.

"Please don't upset Matt so much," Gabumon said to the brunet before running to catch up with his boy. Tai stared after the reptile Digimon, feeling a little stunned. He just felt he was being scolded by his mother all over again. Shaking the feeling off, Tai took a step and was soon following after Matt. They walked that way in silence for quite a while. Matt had never been talkative, and was actually at his most talkative on this adventure. He'd never been so strongly spoken before, usually content to remain in the shadows and watch the world silently, especially in school. When he did speak up, however, his words were always strong, opinionated, and carefully chosen for someone his age. The ability to chat idly and actually discuss things out was something new that Tai was slowly bringing out in him as they constantly fought over issues and decisions. But he still sometimes fell back into the fight or flight response of either instigating a fight or distancing himself, like he was now.

"Matt!" Tai grabbed his arm and jerked him back. He stood in front of the other boy blocking his path to the sand pit in front of them. Tai broke a branch from a tree and threw it onto the aforementioned sand, and it quickly began to sink into the grainular muck. "Go around that way," he said while pointing to some trees that were spread apart and lead around the quicksand. Matt stopped, blue eyes watching the branch sink. He hadn't even noticed that. He simply did as he was told, saying nothing, stepping back a bit before taking the path between the trees. Tai took no offense to the silence. In fact, he understood the silence perfectly well. He almost preferred it right now. At least if they didn't talk, they couldn't say anything mean or stupid.

Matt didn't say anything the entire trek. Somehow, the jungle seemed to slowly morph to forest as they walked. The humid air became colder, and the trees turned from leafy, exotic fruit trees to pines and evergreens. The change was almost seamless, despite being completely bizarre. Matt's first word since his outburst came when the sun was going down and they stood at the edge of the forest, finding themselves stuck at the edge of a high plateau, looking down at the other half of the island. "Camp," he said simply.

"Make fire. Find food. Urh urh urrh..." Okay, so maybe it was poking the bear with a stick, but Taichi did have his limits on silence. Silence was deafening in this boy's opinion. He needed some kind of noise by this point, even if it was Matt tearing him a new one. So Tai wrinkled his brow and scratched under his arm lazily. "You Matt. Get wood. Urh."

Matt's blue eyes narrowed into a glare, and he slowly turned to face Tai, taking his hands slowly from his pockets and crossing his arms over his chest. "You think this is funny?"

Tai dropped the act but kept the grin. "Complete sentences would be nice," he said with a mild shrug.

"I don't think I need to explain it much more. We've done the same thing every single damn day since we got here."

"Okay, watch this." Tai pointed to his mouth. "We should set up camp here." He paused for a moment to let it all process. "Did you see my lips move? Did your hear my voice? It was easy and I didn't sound like a Neanderthal saying just one word."

Matt grit his teeth, the teasing obviously grating pretty hard on his nerves as fists formed again. "I'd stop if I were you, Tai..."

Tai threw his arms up. "What the hell, man? I can't talk to you about anything! You're so sensitive about everything and you can't even take a joke because you've got a rusty pole stuck up your butt! Just let... it... goooo." Matt couldn't take it anymore. With a yell, he'd tackled Tai to the ground, pinning him down and firing the first punch. Tai yelped when he slammed into the ground. At first he didn't know what was going on. A hot pain exploded against his cheek and he saw Matt pull back for another punch. Suddenly regianing his wits, Tai thrust his knee upward right into Matt's gut. "Cut it out!" Matt gasped when the wind was knocked out've him, grabbing his sides and coughing. But he still reeled back one of his fists and clocked Tai across the other cheek. Tai could taste blood somewhere in his mouth. "Damn it, I said stop it!" He shoved Matt violently onto his back. Tai didn't particularly feel like fighting, but he would sure as hell defend himself. One of his sneakers came down on Matt's chest and held there. "What the hell did I do to you this time?"

Matt was breathing heavily, staring up at Tai with wide blue eyes. He seemed shocked at something, but swallowed and said, "You need to learn where the line is, Tai."

"No, you need to move the line back. The line is so close that I can't take one step without being a mile over it. Don't take everything so seriously. You'll live longer." Matt just blinked up at Tai, gasping back his breath. Eventually, he turned his head to the side and stared at the grass to show he wasn't going to fight him anymore. Tai picked up his foot and took a step back. He then reached out his hand in order to help Matt back up on his feet. "I'm not saying we have to be all emotinal and feely and break down walls, but carrying on a conversation would be nice. Saying something with more than one or two words to each other, y'know? Would it be so bad?"

Matt accepted the hand and stood up, brushing himself off and looking a bit uncomfortable. "Yeah, uh... Sorry, Tai, I guess. We should... set up camp."

"That sounds like a good plan. I'll go get some stuff for the fire and maybe search for food while I'm at it. Are you cool with finding a shelter? Being out on the open top of this thing probably isn't very smart."

"Yeah, I can look," Matt said, looking up and down the line of the plateau and grabbing his arm with the opposite hand before he started off quickly to find something they could use for shelter.

Tai watched him curiously. There was a slight gait in Matt's step, but he chalked it up to some random injury in the fight. With a shrug Tai set off on his own little mission, beckoning Agumon to come with him. He hoped his Digimon could help sniff out food. Gabumon looked between the two boys as they went in opposite directions. The choice wasn't hard though, as he quickly followed after the blond. "Matt, are you all right? Did you get hurt?"

"N-no, I'm fine, Gabumon," Matt said as he started to look for something they could use as shelter for the night. Searching through the forest was fruitless. There were no trees even big enough to sit under without being seen. But Matt soon found a small slope, and sliding down it left him on a ledge where a cave was gaping in the mountainside. "Go find Agumon and Tai and show them down here!" Matt called up to Gabumon.

"All right," he called back. "We'll be back as soon as we can!" So he scampered off then to find the other boy and his Digimon. Matt just nodded, groaning a bit as he headed inside the cave to check it out. "Matt has found a place for us to sleep," Gabumon informed the others once he'd found them.

"Great," Tai said with a grin. "Here, can you carry these?" He gave the reptile a woven basket filled with mushrooms that Agumon had promised were safe to eat. The dinosaur was carrying a second basket filled with berries that were much larger and yellow in color compared to the last ones. Tai gathered up as much wood as he could carry and hoped it would be enough for the night.

Gabumon lead them back toward the cave. Brown eyes peered inside, but it was hard to find his friend in the deep dark shadows. "Matt, you in here?"

"Yeah, c'mon. I found some wood... Right here, Agumon."

"Pepper Breath!" Suddenly the cave lit up with a roar of fire. It wasn't very big, but the overhang of the rocks outside was enough to keep it concealed in shadow. Matt was sitting at one edge of a small semicircle the cave walls formed around the fire.

Tai set the extra wood aside to be used throughout the night. He sat beside Matt while looking around at the cave. "Nice eyes, man. I don't think I would've found this place even if I tried. Hopefully the same goes for any wild Digimon out there." Then he presented the two baskets of food. "This was all we could find, but Agumon says it's all pretty good."

Matt nodded, grabbing a handful of berries and saying, "It's better than our last haul." With that, the small group was seated around that semicircle, passing the baskets back and forth until everyone had their fair share of the meal. After he finished eating, Tai bent his neck from one side to the other and then forward and back. This pattern repeated a couple of times before his white gloves came off and touched the bruises. He'd actually almost forgotten about them. Not to say the flesh wasn't still tender, but he could tolerate it. Now, however, after getting knocked around by Matt, there was new pain to be dealt with. Tai was just glad the guy hadn't tried to strangle him. That would've been awful. Tai wouldn't blame Matt, though, because that wouldn't help anybody. Matt just frowned as he watched Tai feel his bruises. He felt a bit bad for attacking him now... for various reasons. He watched as the fire slowly died, the pitch blackness of the night outside slowly creeping into the dimming cave. Agumon had curled up where he sat and promptly fallen asleep. Tai threw a couple of branches on the fire. The flame wasn't so big as to attract attention, but it was enough to keep them warm.

Gabumon was again at Matt's side and offering his services. "Matt... I would be willing to give you my pelt as a pillow. You and Tai can't look, of course, but I want you to be comfortable."

"No, Gabumon, it's okay," Matt said, his hands in his lap. "You can keep your fur on. I'll be fine."

"If you insist." He pat his boy on the arm. "Good night, Matt." With that, Gabumon curled up beside Agumon. At least he could share the fur's warmth with a fellow reptilian.

Tai let out a rather large yawn while holding his neck in the process. "I think I'm going to turn in too."

"Okay," Matt said, looking towards the mouth of the cave. "I'll keep watch first, then." He seemed all too content with the idea.

Tai reached over lazily and whacked Matt's leg weakly. "Relax, Matt. Just sleep tonight. We'll be okay in here. A full night's rest will do us both some good. Get the crotchetiness out of our system."

Matt just seemed to tense up. "Nah, I'm not tired yet anyway. I'll go to sleep in a bit."

"Okay. Whatever." Tai rolled over, putting his back to Matt. "See you in the morning."

"Yeah," Matt said quietly. He watched and waited as the fire slowly died. When the cave was plunged into complete darkness, he sat in the shadows, listening to the breathing of the three others. They all seemed to be asleep. There was a faint clinking sound as he undid his belt, then the quiet sound of his zipper being slowly unzipped. Matt bit his lip slightly as he again listened to silence. Tai was vaguely aware of those faint sounds. He wasn't quite asleep yet seeing as how the pain in his neck was making that hard. Tai thought he knew those sounds, but he wasn't all that surprised. Sometimes he undid his own pants before going to bed. He was more comfortable that way. Most of the time he just slept in his underwear and a t-shirt. If Matt did the same, then more power to him. There was a long pause where there was the faint sound of fabric shifting, but nothing more. Matt's gloves had been discarded. Suddenly, Matt began to make quiet, reserved noises, obviously bitten back and Matt trying to keep them quiet. Little groans and hisses that he was pretty good at holding back, but not perfect.

One brown eye opened. Those were not the sounds one made while they slept, not even during a nightmare. Tai wasn't quite sure at first exactly what he was hearing. In truth he tried to ignore the sounds. He was tired. He wanted to go to sleep. However, the sounds became a bit louder and more distinguishable. Tai had only tried once and he didn't even get all the way through because Kari came knocking on the door asking to use the toilet. Tai had made enough of his own noises to know what was going on behind him, though. He shot up, not even giving Matt a chance to fix himself. Brown eyes stared through the dark and sure enough, Matt had a hand inside his pants. "The hell, Matt? I'm right here." Surprisingly he wasn't mad, but there was a definite air of annoyance and perhaps one of being grossed out.

Matt gasped, and he was frozen when Tai's voice cut through the darkness. He could have sworn he was asleep! "I-I thought..." he breathed, feeling his entire face heat up and he felt like his body went numb with embarrassment.

"Fair enough, but couldn't you have done it outside? Talk about thinking with your dick, dude." Tai rubbed his eyes. Not that he really wanted to see the image of Matt pleasuring himself, but the darkness was annoying. Then Tai started to wonder why Matt felt the need to do this in the first place. "You fantasizing or something? If you do it to fall asleep, great, but some warning would have been nice."

Matt was staring at the ground, blushing furiously. "I didn't go outside 'cause I-I was... listening," Matt murmured quietly, his voice barely mounting above a whisper.

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Listening to what? You're the only one making noise."

Matt was quiet for a moment, before gasping, "Breathing. That's all, breathing."

"You were listening to... Breathing?" Tai frowned. "Who's... Mine? My breathing?" Tai didn't even wait for an answer. He already knew it. A mass of clashing emotions filled his chest while feeling strangely hollow at the same time. None of this could be true. This wasn't right. There was no way Matt... Tai got up without saying a word and walked right out of the cave, moving like he was lost in a fog.

"Taichi! Er- Tai!" Matt scrambled to pull himself together again, getting to his feet and following Tai out onto the ledge hastily as he slipped his belt back into place. "Tai! Wait a second...!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Tai shouted. "I... I'm not ready. I can't do this." The boy began to pace back and forth. "Do you like me? No guy has ever had a crush on me before and I never liked them. I mean... it was crazy enough I liked boys in general." He pulled on his hair slightly. "Are there, like, rules? Am I supposed to like you back now? How can you punch me square in the face and then jack off to the sound of me breathing? Are you a sadist? That's too far out, man. What am I supposed to do? Do I do something for you? I can't just reject you, can I? That would make me some kind of jerk. I don't wanna be a jerk. What do I do?"

"Taichi..." Matt murmured, his face still flushed, and it become obvious as he stepped out of the cave, the moon illuminating his face enough to show that it was hot with embarrassment. He ignored everything the brown-haired boy was saying, too driven and lost in his abruptly ended pleasure to quite know what he was doing. His bare hands firmly grabbed Tai's shoulders, stopping him from pacing. And without any warning, Matt had quickly leaned in and awkwardly pressed his lips over Tai's.

Tai was frozen in place. He was neither receptive nor responsive to the kiss. Poor kid was almost too dumbstruck to even realize he was being kissed. Soon enough, however, the sensation of lips on lips and the shared heat between their faces brought Tai back to reality. He pushed Matt away, but not in rough or cruel fashion. It was more like, "Woah, wait. What just happened?" Which also happened to be the words that slipped out of his mouth.

Matt put a hand on his mouth, pressing his lips with his fingers. He looked disappointed that the kiss was already over. He took a step backwards, his blue eyes wide and sheepish. "I, um, well... I, yeah."

"Does... Am I supposed to be your boyfriend now?" Tai asked, pathetically naive in his own way.

"I-If you want to," Matt said, sounding just as uneducated on the matter, but trying to appear as if he knew what he was saying. "I mean, if you don't want to, then..."

"But I don't want to hurt your feelings."

Matt flinched slightly, looking at his shoes. "It'll only hurt m-more if you string me along."

"Can I..." Tai bit his lip nervously. "Can I think about it?"

Matt nodded his head. "Yeah... yeah, of course."

"Okay... It's not a 'no,' okay Matt? I just gotta... let it all sink in." And then Tai walked past him back into the darkness of the cave. He definitely wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. Matt just watched him walk back into the cave. He was frozen where he stood. He backed up against the side of the cliff, crumpling into a heap on the ledge. Even though Tai said it wasn't a 'no', all Matt could think about was how he didn't hear 'yes'. And since he didn't hear 'yes', he'd made a complete fool of himself. But what was he expecting, really? For Tai to jump into his arms and proclaim that he felt the same? Matt told himself he was stupid for expecting everything to work out perfectly. He buried his head in his knees, held tight to his chest, and sobbed almost silently.


	5. Devimon

Tai watched the small embers barely smouldering in the fire. He was thinking so many things at once that he wasn't sure he even really was thinking. Tai would pinch himself now and then, wondering if maybe this had been a dream. How long had this been going on? Matt had to have been crushing on him for a long time to even want to kiss Tai like that. So what... Was fighting Matt's way of flirting? It was so elementry school yard. The little boy picks on the little girl he likes. It's the only way he can get her attention. Did Matt really think he needed to punch Tai in the face to get his attention? Because that was just overkill. Finally the embers were outshown by the light of the morning sun pouring into the cave. Tai stood up and wandered outside where he found Matt against the wall all hunched over, so Tai sat down next to him. It was obvious Matt hadn't gotten much sleep. He'd actually fallen asleep for a short while in that dejected position, but he was awake now, staring at the small sliver of ground he could see between his legs. He heard Tai's footsteps, but he didn't look up.

"Just listen, Yamato, okay?" Tai picked up a stray pebble and began rolling it between his gloved fingers. "First, you gotta know that I'm not mad at you. I'm not grossed out or turned off or any of that crap. What I am... is confused. I think you've known longer than me that you like boys, which probably made that a little easier. I don't know. I've only known for a few months and I spend a lot of time dealing with it. You know... on the inside. I've been trying to figure out what it means. Am I a different person now? Do I still get to be the same Taichi who likes soccer, plays Space Invaders at the arcade, and loves pigging out on junk food? Or do I have to be this... weird gay kid who starts talking with a lisp, wears bright colors, and gossips about movie stars? You probably think it's stupid to be caught up in the stereotypes, but I'm so lost." Tai took a minute to pause before going on. "Last night was a big surprise. Part of me liked that kiss because I like boys and I was really excited about being able to kiss a boy. Part of me was really scared too though, but mostly because I didn't know what I was supposed to do for you. I'm actually kind of flattered... stupid as that sounds. I'm not opposed to the idea, I just... I don't want to suck at the whole 'going out' thing and disappoint you. I don't love you or anything, and I don't think you really love me either, but I think you're cool and pretty good looking. We get along better than I thought we could. So... what I'm trying to say is..." He licked his lips. "I want to at least try."

There was a pause, but Matt finally lifted his head from his arms. He rubbed his tired looking blue eyes, running a hand through his spiky blond locks. He was quiet, but eventually he grinned wearily. "You're funny," he said, ruffling Tai's messy brown hair. "I doubt you'd be a disappointment."

Tai shrugged. "You never know. I might screw up majorly and make you wonder why you ever liked me in the first place. I have a history of that." He threw the little rock. "Making people second guess their faith in me, you know?"

"I've been on your end of that quite a few times." Matt said, putting his chin in one of his hands. It was petty often at school that a girl tried to get close to Matt because of his looks, but later be driven off by his cold personality. "But somehow, with you, I doubt it."

"I'll cross my fingers." The boys sat in silence again. Everything had to be mulled over and processed. They had to realize exactly what kind of decision had just been made. Then Tai opened his mouth and asked one of his famously ridiculous questions. "Do I have to hold your hand when we walk now?"

Matt snorted amusedly, shaking his head. "You don't have to do anything if you don't want to, Tai."

"But... who's the girlfriend?"

"There is no girlfriend, Tai," Matt said with a sigh.

His tan face dusted with a light shade of pink. "Sorry."

"Not unless you wanna be treated like the girlfriend," Matt added, a smirk finally creeping onto his face.

"Well..." Tai twisted his fingers together. "You did kiss me first. Seems like the boyfriend thing to do. I dunno..."

"Don't think about it like that, Tai. You'll just confuse yourself," Matt said. "The boyfriend is whomever feels like being the boyfriend at the moment. Okay?"

Tai nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. I get that."

Matt nodded back. "Good." It didn't seem like the affirmation had really sunk in yet. It just didn't feel like anything had changed, with them casually discussing the finer points of it like this. "Any other questions?"

Tai finally gave a smirk of his own. "How long have you been diggin' my awesome charisma?"

Matt blushed, his blue eyes looking at the ground. "Year, maybe."

Tai nodded, looking completely full of himself. "Sweet." Matt just continued to look embarrassed, moving closer to the other boy ever so slightly as he turned to look out at the forest blanketing the ground below the plateau they were perched on. Tai didn't acknowledge Matt with his eyes, but he did sling his arm over the blond's shoulders. He thought it was funny how Matt had attacked him last night with his lips, and now he was being incredibly shy about just sitting a few inches closer. "You're such a chick," he teased.

Matt bolted upright at that statement. "What?" he barked. "Please!" he then scoffed, crossing his arms. Tai just laughed and shook his head. It was way too easy. Matt grumbled, the pink still dusting his pale cheeks as he tapped his fingers on his arm. He kept it up for a minute, before grinning and chuckling quietly. "Oh man, what have I done," he said sarcastically, as one hand slid from his crossed arms and hesitantly grabbed Tai's.

"You fell head first down the rabbit hole, man," he answered and gave Matt's hand a small squeeze. "And I don't think there's any turning back now."

"Good," Matt said, smiling crookedly. "I don't think I want to." But his smile vanished as quickly as it came, a look of surprise taking over his face when Agumon was suddenly standing over them.

Tai couldn't pull his hand away. His brain was too stuck. "Uh... Hey, Agumon, what's up? Sleep good?"

"Yeah..." Agumon said, scratching at the back of his head. The little orange dinosaur Digimon looked a bit confused. "What're you guys doing?"

"Nothin'. What are you doing?"

"Nothing, then, I guess," Agumon said, still looking confused. "Do you want me to go find breakfast before we go?"

Tai nodded. "Yeah, and make sure you take Gabumon with you. You'll be able to carry more with the two of you." Agumon nodded, going into the cave to wake the other Digimon and get his help, each grabbing one of the baskets that once held their dinner. Tai looked over at Matt and then down at their still clasped hands. "Should I have let go?"

"I dunno," Matt said truthfully. "Does Agumon even get it?"

The boy shook his head. "That's not what I meant. When he was looking... Did you want me to let go?"

Matt shrugged, grinning slightly. "It doesn't bother me either way," he said, trying to build up his usual personality again after the mess he'd made of himself the night before. Slowly, the laid back and seemingly always unfazed Matt was coming back.

Tai nodded while bending their arms up and down. "Okay..." Finally he looked up and offered a smile. "Okay."

Matt just chucked quietly, leaning back with a grin. Agumon and Gabumon had padded past them to go searching for food. Another morning in a strange, unfamiliar place, but now Matt was feeling decidedly better. "Anything you want to do, Tai, just go for it. I don't care."

"Well then, I want to get my butt off this hard ground," he said and stood up, effectively pulling Matt up with him. "And you know, at least now the geeks have a better shot of hooking up with the girls. We were the only competition."

Matt snorted with amusement, pulling himself up by Tai's hand. "Technically they always had a good shot. We wouldn't have gone after them anyway."

"Yeah, but the girls might have rejected them in pursuit of us. Now you and I are off limits."

Matt looked thoughtful at that. "True," he murmured, squeezing Tai's hand.

Tai started to walk up the slope and actually continued holding Matt's hand. "So are we telling everyone, or just let them figure it out on their own? Not that I'm embarrassed, but I don't feel like dealing with them freaking out and asking a bunch of questions."

"Me either," Matt said, determine not to be dragged along and walking exactly at Tai's side, step for step. "Let's just not tell 'em. They're smart- er, well, most of them are. They'll figure it out eventually."

"Yeah, that sounds good. And to be honest, I don't think the Digimon get it. So far it hasn't seemed like they... find mates or whatever. They might not know what love or attraction is even if we do tell them."

"Besides, they'll support us no matter what," Matt murmured with a flicker of a fond smile that turned back to his regular, stoic expression as quickly as it had formed. "We don't have to tell anyone anything, it's not really their business. Everyone can figure it out," he said with a shrug. "But..." He paused. "If we do get back home... maybe we should be more careful there, where we aren't just with them."

Tai chuckled slightly. "Man... You'd think we wouldn't care. It's messed up that we have to be scared. At least I am. My team mates are jerks. I shouldn't care what they think, but I do... And that makes me feel even worse."

"It's messed up," Matt agreed. "But it'll be so much easier on us to just... keep it to ourselves."

"We'll be Romeo and Juliet," Tai snickered. "Without that end part."

"Who's Juliet?" Matt asked with a smirk.

"You are."

"What?" Matt turned to look at the brown-haired boy. "Why me?"

Tai shrugged. "I dunno. I thought you might want to be. 'Course if you don't, then I'll be Juliet. How's that?"

Matt shrugged, lacing their fingers together. "Whatever. As long as it happens."

Tai adopted Matt's leaned back posture, sticking his free hand into his pocket and bobbing his head slightly. "Yeah. Whatever. Just do whatever, man. Pretending not to care is cool. I'm cool. Super cool. Yeah."

Matt smirked, blue eyes glancing over at Tai. "Making fun of me again, then?"

His hand emerged from the pocket to hold up one finger. "Or... Am I flattering you?"

Matt opened his mouth to respond, only to raise an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, dude. Take it however you want." Tai shrugged. He felt his logic was very simple, really. "If you don't want to be offended, then don't get offended. If you want to be flattered, feel flattered. Just like that."

Matt chuckled fondly. "Alright."

That was the last moment of peace they got in quite a long time. Just as the Digimon were coming back with food, Matt heard a scream that he recognized from the bottom of the plateau, coming from the forest below. "TK!" he gasped.

Tai heard the scream as well, though to him it could have been anybody. He trusted Matt to know the sound of his own brother, though, so he followed the blond to the ledge and looked down over the steep drop. "We have to get down there somehow." Suddenly remembering Matt's knack for being reckless in the name of his brother, Tai reached over and grabbed his arm. "But don't even think about trying to slide down the side of this thing."

"But-!" Matt started, looking down the slope with a look of barely suppressed panic flickering in his eyes. "Gabumon!" he yelled to his approaching Digimon. "We need to save TK, Digivolve! I'm riding Garurumon down the slope."

Gabumon tapped into Matt's desperate desire to save his younger brother and used the energy to digivolve into his white wolf form. With a loud howl he shouldered Matt up onto his back and leapt over down to the steep slope. He used his claws to keep them anchored enough to not go barreling at a deadly speed. "Keep your head down," the beast ordered as a thick cloud of dust and rubble flew up around them. Tai knew Greymon wasn't built for jumping down a slope. He wasn't agile enough, so they would have to find another way down.

Matt did as he was told, ducking behind Garurumon's thick mane of fur. When they got to the bottom, they were at once speeding off towards the sound of the screams. As they ran at top speed through the trees, Matt soon spotted the intimidating form of Leomon looming over his little brother and Patamon. "Get 'em!" Hh shouted.

Garurumon made sure to safely buck Matt off before charging at Leomon. His noble howl was accompanied by brilliant blue fire which scorched the lion's back. Tai was restless by the time he and Agumon found a shallower drop down from the plateau. From atop his perch on Greymon's plated head, Tai could see the wild dance of orange and blue flames. He wished his dinosaur Digimon could run faster so he could help Matt sooner. Matt had quickly found his way over to TK's side, obviously worried out of his skull. "TK, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"N-No..." The young boy was visibly shaking. "He j-just scared me. That's all."

"Are you sure?" Matt pressed as he stood up, helping TK up with him. He looked around quickly, noticing that no one was there with TK. "Were you by yourself for the past few days?"

"No!" Patamon squeaked. "He was with me!" But Matt didn't look content with that answer.

TK nodded timidly. "Sorry, Matt. I tried finding somebody, but we all got put so far apart. Patamon has been really good at taking care of me though." Tai was only a few feet from Matt and TK when Ogremon jumped in their path, a baby Digimon crying in his arms.

"You better hand over the kid!" he threatened, the blunt end of his club pressed dangerously close to the little wriggling Poyomon he held, the spikes on the other end of the club glinting. "Or your little friend here gets it!"

Tai had slipped down the back of Greymon's tail and snuck up along Ogremon to snatch the Poyomon away. "You won't hurt anyone, but you can still fight with Greymon," he said with a smirk. Matt could only watch as Garurumon and Greymon started to fight with Leomon and Ogremon. Everything seemed to be going fine, until suddenly more Black Gears came from the top of Infinity Mountain and infected Leomon further, giving him more dark power. It looked like Garurumon was doomed, until Togemon suddenly fell from the sky and tackled Leomon to the ground. "Thank goodness you guys are here!" Tai shouted. "We need all the help we can get. Greymon's doing fine, but Leomon is supercharged on Black Gears. How are we supposed to take him down?"

"We've got the solution!" Izzy yelled as Kabuterimon landed. He and Mimi both jumped off his back to hold up the strange devices they'd all gotten at the start of the journey. "They're Digivices. You can use them to drive out the power of the Black Gears!"

Tai looked between Ogremon and Leomon. Ogremon wasn't infected with Black Gears so he was less of a threat. Leomon needed to be cured. Lemon was a good Digimon. So Tai ran over to Matt, taking up his Digivice, and then grabbing Matt's hand. "Let's do it. We can help Leomon if we work together." Matt looked surprised, but followed Tai's lead. The two of them held up their Digivices, and suddenly bright lights sprung from them. Leomon began to roar loudly, and the Black Gears flew up out of his back and into the sky, where they exploded into pixelated dust. "We did it!" Tai said excitedly, giving Matt's hand a squeeze. Tai just as quickly let go, though, before anyone saw and started asking questions. This wasn't the best time for something like that. "Leomon, can you help us take down Ogremon? All the baby Digimon are in danger with him here."

"Of course," Leomon grunted, getting into a battle pose. It was then, though, and they all looked around and noticed that Ogremon was no where in sight.

"He ran away, the chicken," Matt snorted, crossing his arms.

"Tai!" Sora came running up to the brown haired boy and threw her arms around him.

Tai laughed and hugged her back. He wasn't afraid to admit he'd missed his best friend the last couple of days. "Good to see you," he said.

"At least it seems like everyone else was in pairs," Matt said as he walked up beside them. "We've finally got everyone together again."

"Good thing we heard all the noise," Joe said as he emerged from some bushes. "Sora and I were going in the completely opposite direction at first."

Tai nodded as he looked around at the reformed group. "Well, now we can get back on our way to Infinity Mountain. Devimon still needs to be dealt with."

"I'll come with you," Leomon said in his deep growl of a voice. "You are, after all, the Digidestined."

Sora tilted her head curiously. "Digidestined? What does that mean?"

"There is an evil that has been overtaking our world," Leomon said, looking down at the assembled group of children. "It was foretold that a group of chosen children would come from another world to save us. These children would be able to make Digimon Digivolve, and you've all done that. Therefore, you are the Digidestined."

"Wow! That's so cool!" Tai exclaimed.

"Great evil?" Joe repeated nervously. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"But, Joe, what if there's no one else who can do it?" Sora asked with a concerned look.

"There isn't," Leomon said simply. "Devimon is the source of all this evil, and you are the ones who must stop him."

"Doesn't sound like we have much of a choice," Matt said matter-of-factly.

"Then we'll do it!" Tai said with eager fists thrown up into the air. "We can do it if we work together. I mean, we wouldn't be here if we couldn't defeat Devimon."

"And it seems that, by logic, if we defeat Devimon, we'll return home," Izzy stated.

"Well then, looks like we're gonna take him on," Matt said, looking towards the island.

"I have a boat I can take most of you in," Leomon offered, looking around at the group. "A few of you may have to have your Digimon Digivolve and take you, however."

Joe nodded. "I can ride Ikkakumon. Anyone who wants to ride with me can come along." He glanced over at Mimi when he said this.

Mimi smiled, nodding and walking over to Joe's side. "Me and Palmon can go with Joe, then."

"I wanna stay with Matt," TK announced.

"Garurumon can't swim the long distance, so looks like me and TK are taking the boat," Matt said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking over at Tai.

"No offense to Ikkakumon, but his fur stinks when it gets wet. I'm sticking with the boat," said Tai while returning Matt's gaze.

Sora held his arm. "I'm sticking with Tai."

Said boy just gave her a nod and looked over at their techy member. "What about you, Izzy?"

"I'd ride Kabuterimon, but he just Digivolved back." Izzy said with a frown, patting Tentomon's back.

"All of you can't fit. One more will have to use a Digimon," Leomon said.

"Sora, can't you fly with Birdramon?" Matt asked.

The girl looked a little hurt at the suggestion, but she knew she shouldn't take it personally. Sora clung a bit tighter to Tai's arm before letting go. "Yeah... No problem."

Tai gave her a reassuring smile. "You can ride the bus with me when we get back home. I promise."

Sora nodded. "Okay."

"That should be fine, then," Leomon said, nodding. "We have a lot of walking to do to get down to the shore, but we should be on the water by nightfall if we start now." Leomon then turned on his heel and started to walk towards the water. Everyone exchanged glances, but it was Izzy who was first to start following him, closely followed by Mimi, who was tugging Joe along by his arm.

Sora looked at Tai, trying to pull him along with her eyes, but he just smiled at her. "You go on ahead. I've gotta talk to Matt about some stuff."

Again the girl just nodded and took TK's hand. "Come on, TK, let's catch up with the others."

Matt watched as the other kids eagerly followed after Leomon, looking over at Tai. "Some ride, huh?"

"Yeah, but... Does it really change what we're here for?" Tai said while scratching the back of his head. "We were always going to fight Devimon. Now we just have a cool group name."

Matt shrugged. "I guess. It does explain a lot, though... I guess. Even though we still don't know why exactly we were chosen in the first place."

"That's one of those questions I don't bother asking. I think it would drive us crazy trying to know the answer."

Matt looked ahead at their departing group. "C'mon, we should start moving," he said, starting to follow after them.

Tai reached out to grab Matt's hand. "Hey, Matt..."

Matt grinned slightly, stopping and looking over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I thought we worked really good together. You know... helping Leomon." Then Tai stepped forward and landed a quick peck on the blond's cheek. He ran off just as quickly, obviously embarrassed, but waved for Matt to follow him with a stupid grin on his face. Matt put a hand over his cheek, looking surprisedly after Tai. It took him a moment before he snapped back into reality and grinned wider, running after the brunet to catch up with the group.

It was indeed dark by the time they reached Leomon's boat. Sora had Biyomon Digivolve into Birdramon who took to the sky, but hung low so as not to attract attention. Joe helped Mimi onto Ikkakumon's back and even shielded her when the water splashed up around them when he took off. TK sat beside his brother in the boat, often tugging on his shirt so he would look at the glittering fish swimming about in the water. Once they were all in the boat, Leomon pushed them off with a long stick and used it to slowly push them towards the looming mountain. It was a fairly long trip, but they managed to land just shortly after Ikkakumon and Birdramon reached the mountain. By now TK was dozing in his brother's lap. Sora dropped to the ground from her perch on Birdramon's foot and watched the boat, waiting for Tai to come ashore. "TK, wake up. We're here," Matt whispered, shaking his brother's shoulder. Leomon ran the boat up onto the shore, and everyone quickly got off.

"We must be careful as we ascend the mountain," Leomon said quietly. "Devimon will stop at nothing to be rid of you."

All the children and their Digimon nodded in affirmation. Meanwhile, up at the peak of the mountain, Devimon was preparing for them. He could sense the children were near. He should have known that separating them wasn't enough. "I'll do what I should have done all along," he told himself. Devimon heard the grotesque sniffing and slobbering of Ogremon from over his shoulder. "You have failed me yet again," he said darkly.

Halfway up to the peak, and there was suddenly a massive rumbling. The group stopped, only to see the roof of the building atop the mountain break off, and a giant black form emerge from it. "Devimon!" Mimi gasped.

"He's grown," Izzy observed blankly.

Ogremon's cries could be heard as he was turned into a set of Black Gears and absorbed into Devimon's looming figure. "How are we supposed to fight him now?" Joe cried. "He's unstoppable!"

"No, he's not!" Tai declared. "Come on guys, this is why we're here. We're the Digidestined. We can do this! Together!"

"Right!" Matt pumped his fist in the air, and they were all soon running up the slope, until Devimon jumped from his perch and landed before them, shooting them against the mountain with a dark blast from his palm. Each Digidestined raised their Digivices, and soon every champion was attacking the towering evil devil, but seemingly to no avail.

Every champion except one. TK stood at the back watching helplessly as his friends were beaten back one by one. He wanted to help so badly. He wanted to help his big brother! Patamon couldn't Digivolve, though, no matter what they did. TK turned to his Digimon regarless. "C'mon, Patamon, just try. Try as hard as you can! They need us!"

"I'm trying, TK!" Patamon squeaked, watching on in horror as Devimon bowled the other Digimon into each other, each one falling to his destructive blasts. "It's just not working! Oh, why can't I Digivolve?'

"You can do it, Patamon. Reach down really really deep! J-Just keep trying!"

"You worthless maggots!" Devimon sent out another dark explosion which sent all the Digimon barreling into the ground.

"Greymon, please, get up," Tai begged, coming to kneel next to his huge but helpless Digimon.

The devil laughed darkly with triumph. "Now... as for you..." he said as he turned to face the smallest child. "I cannot allow you to grant Patamon's Digivolution." And with that he reached forward to crush TK in his fist.

"Patamon, help!" TK screamed with tears in his eyes.

Patamon squealed when the fist clamped down around them. "TK!" Matt shouted from where he was struggling to get off the ground, his leg badly hurt from one of the blasts, rocks loosened by it falling down from the cliff. He tried to struggle away regardless, until he saw a bright light suddenly shining from between Devimon's fingers.

"What is that?" Sora cried.

A painful howl could be heard coming from Devimon. "No! No it can't be!"

The light forced Devimon's fist open, and the light dimmed just enough to reveal a six winged angel, his face covered by a metal helmet and long blond hair streaming behind him. He held a long staff, which he pointed at Devimon. "I'm ready to fight for peace!"

TK stared up at the angel with wide blue eyes. At first he couldn't find his voice, but finally he squeaked out. "P-Patamon? Is that you?"

"Yes," the angel said, smiling over his shoulder at the boy. "Though, now I am Angemon. I finally Digivolved to protect you, TK." He turned back to Devimon, holding his staff up high. Beams of light suddenly shot from each child's Digivice, making the staff glow a brilliant gold.

Devimon hissed. "No! No, I won't be stopped now! Not by the likes of you!" He held up his clawed hand and sent a blast of the dark energy toward the radiant seraphim. Angemon only needed a simple wave of his staff to dissipate the darkness. He held the staff high, and it retracted into his hand, all of the glowing light balling up into his fist. Then, one punch was all it took to send a powerful, bright blast straight through Devimon's chest. "Damn you!" the devil cried. He looked up one last time to see Angemon deteriorating just as he was. This made Devimon laugh. "You're such a fool!" TK watched with tears streaming down his face as his Digimon slowly died. "What was the point of using all your energy here? The darkness has spread even across the sea. All of you are done for!" The devil laughed until his last breath.

"Angemon! Angemon, don't go!"

"I'll come back, TK." The angel said with a sad smile, turning to look at the boy as he slowly faded away. "I'll come back, if you want me to." And with that, he was gone, save for a few falling feathers.

"Angemon!" The child cried broken heartedly. He ran to catch the feathers, setting them in a small pile on the ground. Takeru cried over the white feathers. They were all he had left now. As his tears fell, the feathers began to glow and turned into an egg.

"Don't cry, TK!" Biyomon said as she hopped up next to him. "Digimon don't really die! He'll be back before you know it." She tried to get him to look up from his crying to show him the egg that was resting on the ground.

TK sniffed softly as he looked up to see the orange and white striped egg in front of him. "I-Is that Angemon's egg?"

"That's right!" Biyomon chirped. The rest of the group slowly formed a circle to look at the egg. Even Matt was on his feet, even though he knew he'd hurt his leg terribly. But he was holding back his pained hisses and just smiled on with the rest of them. He didn't want to worry them - not when they'd just finally won the battle. "Just take good care of him, and he'll hatch again!"

The child nodded and held the egg close. "I'll protect him no matter what," he promised. Tai glanced over at Matt. He could see the pain lacing his eyes. He'd seen enough guys play through soccer injuries to know that look. So went to stand next to the blond. Tai didn't say anything, but he was there for Matt to lean on.

Matt's shoulder pressed against Tai's, and he exhaled thankfully. Taking the weight off his leg was an incredible relief. "So, what do we do now?" Izzy asked.

"Find somewhere to camp for the night!" Matt said a little bit louder than he'd meant to, putting all eyes on him. "I mean, we haven't um, been transported home or anything yet. We should sleep and try to figure it out in the morning."

A slight rumbling noise could be heard, and of course Joe reacted to the noise as if it were a rock slide. "What is that?" All that happened was a small pile of rocks broke apart to reveal a disk embedded in the ground. It began to glow and the figure of a little old man appeared.

"Well, well," he croaked delightedly. "You must be the Digidestined."

"Who're you?" Matt asked, narrowing his eyes at the fuzzy holographic image of the man.

"Interesting... a holographic projection machine in the middle of a mountain plateau? How strange!" Izzy murmured.

"My name is Gennai," he answered simply. Old wrinkled eyes observed each of the children standing before him. "I'm quite impressed to see you have defeated Devimon so soon."

"It's such a relief to see another human," Sora commented.

"Well, yes and no," the old man said to her.

"How can it be yes and no?" Mimi asked skeptically, most of the others following suit with jumbled, confused questions.

"You see, I am a human, but not from Earth like all of you. I have always been here. Right now I am on the Server Continent. There is an even greater evil here which you must defeat."

Joe gaped stupidly at the hologram. "A greater evil than Devimon? He was scary enough!"

"Joe, chill out," Tai hissed.

"Joe raises a valid point," Izzy said, frowning. "We barely got by defeating Devimon. And even with our victory, the reason we won has been reduced to an egg. How can we possibly attempt to take on a greater evil?"

"Ah, but you can," Gennai chimed. "If you Digivolve to the next level, that is."

"Next level?" Matt gasped, his bue eyes widening. "How?"

"You must each gather a Tag and a Crest. By insterting the Crest into the Tag and channeling its power, you can evolve to the next level of Ultimate. Only then will you have the power to defeat the evil on Server Continent."

"But where are we supposed to find them?" Sora asked.

"Unfortunately, the Crests have been scattered all over the Continent, and I'm afraid Devimon has collected the Tags and hidden them somewhe-" There was a sudden interruption of static. "Oh no! No! Devi- Interfere-" The old man flickered a few times before the signal died all together.

The kids were left staring stupidly at the place where the man's image once was. "Okay..." Matt said, looking around at the rest of the kids. "Some random old guy just came out of the ground-"

"Technically it was a holograhpic-" Izzy started, but Matt cut him off to keep talking.

"And told us to travel across the ocean to go on a treasure hunt."

"Great," Joe sighed. "Just another task for us to do." Tai flinched at that, his whole body stiffening.

Sora caught this out of the corner of her eye. "Tai, you okay?"

The boy shook his head. "Yeah... Let's, um... Let's set up camp before it gets to be too late. We... We should sleep on this."

"Seconded," Matt said, trying his best to keep the limp out of his step as they tried to find a place to set up camp. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry as much about being concealed, now that Devimon was defeated. Though they chose a cave in the side of the mountain to sleep in, they could all sit outside it around the fire without much worry. All of their Digimon, exhausted from the fight, were already asleep. Tai made sure to sit Matt and himself away from the others a bit. He made their own small fire using some twigs and leaves, lighting it with a trick he learned in scouts. With his gloves now off, he pushed up Matt's pant leg and inspected the leg. Good thing he'd earned his first aid badge before dropping out. Tai touched the leg tenderly, feeling for any breaks, but his hands were a bit stiff and his eyes were over-focused. "I'm fine." Matt insisted, frowning worriedly as he felt Tai's stiff hands touching his leg. "It'll be okay if I just don't walk on it... are you feeling alright?"

"Would you even believe me if I said no?" he replied, still touching Matt's leg.

"Yeah... what's wrong?"

"The one thing I'm afraid of is happening, Matt. I knew it would. I knew it..."

"That we have to do something else..." Matt murmured, touching Tai's shoulder gingerly.

Tai nodded, looking a bit freaked out. "All we thought we had to do was take down Devimon, and we did that, but we're still here. Now we have to go fix this continent. I bet everyone thinks we'll be done after that. I mean... What's left after a continent? But what if there are more? Earth has seven, Matt, seven. How many could this world have? How many more continents and islands are we going to have to fix before we can go home? I- I- I don't think I can keep doing that!"

"Do we have a choice?" Matt said quietly. "What can be possibly do? Sit on this island twiddling our thumbs? Then we'll never go home..."

"We might not go home anyway. At least if we stayed here we wouldn't be risking our lives."

"But we'd waste our whole lives on this island... I bet your families are worried," he murmured. "C'mon, Tai. You're the one with the upbeat, can-do attitude. You can't be a downer like this or none of us will make it."

Tai grabbed up two long sticks from the brush nearby. Then he took off his shoes and socks, ripping the latter longways down the middle. "I'm only eleven years old, Matt. The biggest thing I ever worried about was passing history class and winning soccer games. Now we're expected to save the world." Tai set the sticks against Matt's leg and started wrapping the socks around it, carefully tying them together. "Just... Let me be eleven and scared tonight, okay? Let me be a scared kid tonight, and I'll be braver in the morning."

Matt looked displeased with the fact that Tai was dressing his leg, but he sighed and leaned back against a tree. "Alright. Just promise me you'll put on that smiling face for the rest of the group. They need it."

"I promise." Tai reset the pant leg and sighed. Even though the others were just a few feet away, Tai didn't care. They'd probably be asleep soon enough anyway. So he crawled up to sit right beside Matt and curled up against him.

Matt put his arm around Tai's shoulders, resting his head against the other boy's, his messy brown hair providing a perfect pillow. He didn't care that everyone else was so close, either. He guessed that after that battle, everyone was already asleep in the cave. He looked at his leg, feeling the makeshift splint holding it stiff. "...Thanks," he said quietly.

"Don't mention it," Tai returned. He then put an arm over Matt's torso, making a faint attempt to hold him. Even though he was freaking out up in his head, the boy managed to fall asleep in just a few minutes. Matt grinned, running his fingers as much as he possibly could through the head of messy brown hair. He knew it'd probably be best for them to get up and go back to camp, sleeping separately. But Tai's body heat and gentle breathing eventually had Matt just resting his eyes - which soon became him drifting off to sleep as well.


	6. The Trek to Server

"Matt." Joe shook the shoulder of the other boy carefully. "Matt, wake up. Tell me how your leg is doing." The older boy had his medical bag at the ready. Dark eyes behind large glasses were a bit anxious, like maybe he was both excited and scared at the same time. "Does it hurt at all?"

Matt groaned, rubbing his eyes and looking up at the other boy. "Hn? Oh..." He guessed Joe could tell something was wrong, too. "It feels fine, I guess. I haven't tried walking on it again."

Joe nodded. "Well I wish Tai had told me last night. I could have made a proper splint for you and Tai would still have his socks." Joe observed the leg and nodded affirmingly. "Try walking on it now. Depending on how much it bothers you we'll determine if you need to keep that on."

Matt pushed himself up, standing on his two feet. He bit his lip a bit, and murmured, "It smarts a little, but it doesn't hurt too bad. I should be able to keep going no problem." He walked in a small circle, then nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. "No problems."

"Okay, that's good. Luckily we're putting a raft together so we can sail to Server, so you won't have to do a whole lot of walking for a while." Joe looked off to the side through the trees. "Everyone is already down by the shore. Tai told us to let you sleep since your leg was hurt, but the raft is almost done so I came to get you. They're just through there." He pointed. "Maybe two or three yards."

"Alright," Matt said with a bit of a frown. He wished Tai hadn't broadcasted to everyone that Matt had hurt his leg. He'd been trying to keep it from everyone so they didn't worry. He followed Joe down to the shore, raising his eyebrows at the raft. They sure built that fast... that was, until he saw almost every Digimon they'd met on the island standing off to the side, looking proud of themselves. Ah, that explained it.

"Morning, Matt!" TK called as he ran up to his brother. The orange and white egg was cradled in his left arm, so he hugged Matt with the right. "Did you see the raft? Everyone came to help! We're gonna ride on the ocean so we can help the old man. We gathered up food and stuff too."

"I see the raft," Matt said, nodding and walking over to it. "Sounds like a plan." He looked around at everyone. Most of the kids were saying goodbye to the Digimon who'd helped them and finding their own to get on the raft. "Gabumon?" he called, looking for his own companion.

"Right here, Matt," he answered and toddled up to his boy. "Matt... I am not too fond of the idea of us going out onto the water. I know we have to, but I'd rather not get wet. You'll forgive me if I stay more on the middle of the raft, won't you?"

Matt chuckled slightly, patting Gabumon's head. "Of course, Gabumon. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I may sit near the edge from time to time, though."

Gabumon waved a fretting hand at his boy. "Do be careful not to fall in."

Matt smirked. "I won't, Gabumon. Don't worry." Soon, they were setting sail, waving goodbye to the Digimon of File Island who helped them. At first, the novelty of sailing on the raft was enough to keep them entertained, but it quickly wore off. Izzy was trying to connect to the internet out of boredom, Joe was complaining about being seasick, and Mimi wanted a pedicure for her aching feet. Matt had rolled up the pant leg of his uninjured leg and was letting it dangle in the water as he played his harmonica.

Tai came over to sit next to Matt. He took his own shoes off and let his bare feet have a good soak. "How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Pretty well. Don't think I've slept that well since we got here," Matt said as he took the harmonica away from his lips.

Tai nodded. "I know you're gonna say it wasn't a big deal, but sorry about freaking out last night. You were the one with the hurt leg and I was just going on about... crap. I'll get my act together eventually."

"Don't worry about it. My leg's not hurt that badly," Matt murmured, spinning his harmonica around between two fingers. "As long as you keep up your promise, you have nothing to apologize for."

Tai grinned. "Well, I'm doing pretty good so far. No one had second thoughts about heading out to sea. I even convinced them your leg wasn't that bad. TK panicked a little, but I expected him to." He looked over his shoulder and the boy who was now playing with his newly hatched Poyomon. "He really loves you, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Matt said, looking down at the water as it rippled around his leg.

"Do... Do you get to see him very often?"

"Not really," Matt murmured. "We live apart, and our parents are never in a rush to see each other. So I usually see him over holidays and stuff."

Tai did his best to venture carefully. "Um, how come you guys didn't go with the same parent?"

"Legal issues. My mom wanted TK and my dad... well, he didn't want to be bested by my mom."

"Weren't you allowed to pick? I mean... I bet it would be really hard to, but did anyone give you that option?"

Matt shook his head. "No. It was all decided in court. We didn't even know what was going on until suddenly my mom took TK and all of her stuff and moved out." That was a bit of a stretch of the truth, but Matt didn't feel like explaining his favor for his father to Tai.

Tai put his hand on Matt's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man."

"Don't be. Not your fault," Matt said, leaning back on his hands.

"I don't think I could be away from Kari like that. Even at camp I was thinking about her. Now that we're here, though, I'm actually glad she got sick and had to stay home." Tai splashed his feet gently. "She's funny sometimes. She tries to be a big kid a lot. My mom always worries about her though."

Matt just nodded slightly. "TK's always trying to act grown up, too. But I know I need to protect him. He doesn't realize that he needs the help sometimes, though. He insists he can do things on his own, even when he can't."

Tai smiled. "We were like that too though, y'know? I remember trying to make breakfast for my mom on her birthday. Dad was on a business trip so he wasn't around to help. Mom was already pregnant with Kari, so I wanted to do something really nice for her." The boy snickered. "I burned the toast, put way too much syrup on the waffles, and the eggs were just this white runny puddle. I even spilled the orange juice. I was sure she would be mad, but I took the tray in anyway, and I remember how much she laughed. I think she even cried a little bit she was laughing so hard."

Matt snickered slightly. "Yeah, I guess we were. My dad's a big smoker, so I snuck out of the house and tried to buy cigarettes at the drug store for him by saying exactly what he'd always said. The woman just laughed and sent me back home with a pack of candy cigarettes. I was disappointed, but my dad told me it was okay."

"It's what you do when you're a kid," Tai said in a reflective tone. "In a big hurry to be grown up, only to wish you had more time as you get older."

Matt nodded, looking up at the sky. "It can't be helped, though. We all feel like that. Even right now," the blond said quietly. "We want to grow up so we can lead everyone and make it through this. That's why we're so headstrong." His hand landed over Tai's. "We want to grow up faster. Right?"

"I... I want to be grown up enough to lead everyone now, but when we get home again, I want to go back to being a kid."

"I don't know if it works like that, Tai," Matt sighed with a frown. "I think once you grow up, that's it."

"Then..." Tai swallowed. "Then I don't know what I want." The boy put his shoes back on and went to go stand at the front of the raft, miniscope in hand. Sora tried talking to him, but he didn't respond. Tai probably didn't even hear her. Matt looked over his shoulder at him, frowning gently. But he went back to playing his harmonica, thinking it was better to let the boy think it out on his own.

After a few hours of smooth sailing, the water turned a bit rough. The waves grew in size and strength, but there was no storm brewing to cause such a thing. Sora cried out when a monsterous shadow passed beneath the raft. An enormous splash was soon to follow as some giant form emerged from below. "Is that some kind of island?" Joe cried as he clung to the mast.

"Islands don't rise out of no where!" Matt gasped as he leapt to his feet, wincing a bit. The giant creature's mouth was suddenly gaping wide, pulling the raft and all the water around them inside. "It's a whale!"

"I don't want to be fish food!" Mimi screeched.

"Technically, it's a mammal!" Izzy shouted back, before their raft was speeding down the creature's throat.

The little raft sped along down the throat of the whale, pulled along by the swift currents. "Ew!" TK jumped back from a dark purple blob that had fallen onto the raft from above. He was about to take a closer look when it began to smoke and eat through the wood. "Oh no!" the child cried and kicked the blob into the water.

"What are they?" Sora cried in reference to the numerous other blobs trying to rain down on them.

"They must think we're a germ!" Joe said as he dodged one of the acidic goo bomds. "They're trying to get rid of us!"

"Antibodies!" Izzy confirmed. They continued to fall until the raft fell into a huge, metallic looking chamber.

"Where are we?" Mimi asked.

"I'd gather the stomach," Izzy said, looking around.

"Look!" Sora pointed far above their heads. There, lodged in the wall of the whale's stomach, was a Black Gear.

"He's sick!" TK cried sympathetically.

"He must have swallowed us so we could get rid of that thing," Tai surmised. "But it's too far up. We'll never reach it."

"Palmon!" Mimi gasped, looking down at her Digimon. "Can you use your Poison Ivy so someone can climb up there on your vines?"

The little plant Digimon nodded confidently. With a strong flick of both her arms, Palmon had her vines hooked on the Black Gear. Tai looked around at all the other kids and quickly realized they weren't brave enough to climb up that far. Matt probably would, but he had that bum leg. So with a deep breath Tai jumped up, grabbed the vines, and began to shimmy his way up. There was only a quarter of the distance left to go when Tai's holy device began to glow and the Gear broke apart in the next second. With nothing to hold onto, Palmon's vines fell limp and Tai came dropping from the great height. Sora gasped. "Taichi!"

Matt at once jumped to the edge of the raft, but Izzy grabbed his arm. "Those are gastric juices! If you jump in them, you'll get digested!" Before Tai could hit the water, there was a sudden bump as the whale's body shook, and the raft was propelled upward, giving Palmon enough time to whip Tai back and up onto the raft.

Tai landed on his back staring up at the ceiling of the vast cavity. There was a slight ringing in his ears before someone saying his name caught his attention. "Tai?" Sora was kneeling next to him, touching his arm gently and looking worriedly at him. "Are you okay? You were so brave to do that. Thank goodness Palmon grabbed you at the last second like that."

Matt was kneeling on his other side, just looking down at him concernedly. "You okay?" he asked.

"I kinda feel like I'm floating, but yeah, I think I'm okay." He sat up at that point and rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't expect it to fall apart with me that far away. Thanks Palmon." Tai reached over and rubbed one of her petals, to which she just giggled.

Joe was still a bit frantic. "So we did our good deed. Aren't we supposed to get out of the whale now?"

"That would be beneficial!" Izzy said, having to step away as the gastric juices ate away at their boat.

"One moment!" A deep voice suddenly boomed all around them, and a jet of water propelled the whole raft upwards. It rushed up before the kids were suddenly flung out into the ocean, the raft breaking apart upon contact. "Sorry," the huge voice apologized. "I don't know what came over me."

"The whale is talking!" exclaimed TK. Both his small arms were required for holding on to the stray log, so Poyomon was now perched on top of his hat.

"My stars," buzzed Tentomon, who had actually managed to get his wings out in time to stay out of the water. "I believe that's Whamon. He's a fine fellow for sure."

Tai scoffed. "Except he destroyed our raft!"

"I'm sorry," Whamon boomed, his massive head moving just slightly so he could look around at all of the children now left floating in the ocean, clinging to the smashed raft. "Where are you all headed? I can take you there to show my thanks, if you would like."

"Think you owe us that much," Tai grumbled under his breath. "Remove that Black Gear and you wreck our raft. Thanks." He coughed when someone splashed him.

Sora was the one to answer the aquatic Digimon. "We're going to Server! A ride would be really appreciated, but..." She looked at the container that had held their food and how it was now turned upside down. "We don't have anything to eat now."

"Not a problem!" Gomamon said, laughing and waving his flipper in the air. "I can catch us some fish and catch up! We'll burn what's left of the raft and be all set for dinner!"

"I won't mind if you cook them on my back. I can't feel anything through this armor, anyhow," Whamon said, as he began to sink into the water. When he was deep enough that all of the kids could scramble on, he said, "It should only take me a few days to get you all to Server. It would have taken weeks on a raft."

"I'm tired of fish," TK whined. "I wish we could have potato chips or donuts or something."

Joe nodded. "I could go for a fruit bar and a chocolate milk."

"I used to get a peach soda at the corner gas station every day after school," Sora said wearily.

"Come on guys..." Tai began in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. "We don't need all that stuff. You know the digital world doesn't have markets, so... Try not to think about it." Everyone climbed their way up onto Whamon's back, and soon Gomamon was off in search of fish. Whamon moved slowly at first so they didn't leave their personal fisherman behind, Gomamon occasionally rising to the surface with more fish, which Izzy and Joe had been assigned to collect from him. Thankfully, Tai had managed to get everyone's minds off the foods they missed and onto the food Matt was now cooking instead. Tai sat toward the back end of Whamon. He watched the small waves break off the Digimon's tail as it swam. As he watched the gentle flurry of white foam and bubbles, he kept going back to what Whamon had said. On the raft it would have taken them weeks to get to Server, and as Joe had pointed out, they didn't have food for that long. Insecurity set back in and Tai couldn't help imagining him and the others floating aimlessly on the sea. Food and water gone. No shelter from the sun, cold night air, or even the rain. The boy was starting to feel like he should have done a better job. He should have insisted on taking more time to build a boat. Gather more food. Collect more fresh water. Anything!

As it started to get later, everyone was finally eating and content. Matt and Tai were the last to get fed, and when the sun was starting to make it's way to set, Matt was walking to where Tai sat with two cooked fish speared on splintered wood. "Sorry for the wait," the blond said as he sat beside Tai, offering him his meal.

He looked at the fish and then back at Matt. "Everyone else get their's first?"

"They're the ones complaining about food and scrambling for dinner, so yes," Matt said, waving the steaming fish under the boy's nose.

"Hold onto it," Tai told him. "If anybody's still hungry later, they should get to have it. Especially TK or one of the girls. I'm fine."

"There's plenty of fish in the sea, Tai. It's not like we sucked it dry to feed fourteen."

He looked at the fish again and finally took it. "We're pretty lucky, huh?"

"I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that trouble seems to follow us here, but it always benefits us in the end." Matt said, leaning back and biting into his meal.

"Sounds like a twisted case of karma," Tai said. He chewed on his fish lazily, leaving little teeth marks in it here and there. "I have to figure out what we're gonna do when we get to Server. Obviously we have to find our crests and tags. Except I'm pretty sure I've royally screwed up here. That old man said Devimon hid our tags in one place, and Devimon was positioned on File Island, so now we've probably left our tags back there. Everyone is probably gonna want to find their crests. I have to think of a way to go in order, like... first come first serve."

Matt frowned a bit. "But if he wanted to keep us from finding them, wouldn't hiding them somewhere other than File Island make sense? And I'm sure that if we try and find that old guy, he'll probably be able to point us in the direction of the crests and we'll just... come across them in whatever order we do."

"I dunno. I guess... I just keep thinking there might have been a way inside Infinity Mountain. Maybe he had, like... a base in there and that's where our tags are. Hide 'em right under our noses, y'know? Plus he never planned on letting us get this far. He might not have thought he needed to hide them somwhere else."

Matt just sighed, shrugging. "We can't know until we look around, I guess. And at this rate... if anything, it'll just be another few day trip to go back to File Island to look around there again. Stop worrying."

Tai gave his partially eaten fish back to Matt. He just didn't have the taste for it. "I just need a plan to tell the others when we get there. Even if it's not set in stone, they're gonna want to hear something."

"Well..." Matt said, putting the fish down at his side with a bit of a frown. "You got us this far, Tai. I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Something... Eventually..."

Matt looked over his shoulder, noticing that everyone was already going to sleep, knowing that they'd be traveling for a few days. The kids were sprawled out over Whamon's back, the fire barely flickering against the descending nightfall. The blond grinned to himself, and took the chance to gently kiss Tai's cheek. "You will," Matt said quietly.

Tai felt the kiss, which put a faint smile on his face. "Thanks." He lifted one arm and motioned for Matt to lie down with him. "Maybe if I spend some time with my Muse, I'll come up with something."

"Huh?" Matt asked, laying down next to Tai.

"You know... A Muse; one of those Greek chicks who inspired old Greek guys."

"I know what a Muse is," Matt said. "But do you have a Greek chick, then?"

Tai grinned. "Of course I do. She has short blonde hair and always wears the color green. Her eyes are blue, but not too blue, which is good. It's like a stormy blue. She gives me lots of good ideas. She makes me think a lot about a lot of things."

Matt grinned slightly, blue eyes looking from the sky over to Tai. "What's her name, then?" he asked with feigned curiosity.

"Musetta. Her name is Musetta."

"Musetta?" Matt asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Well, that's her Greek name, see? She does have a nickname, but it's a little unconventional. Not to mention it would get confusing after a while."

"Ah." Matt just looked back at the sky. "I should get a Muse..." He murmured after a few moments, tracing his finger idly from one star that he could see to another.

"Musetta does have a friend, Tekla. I bet you would like her. Brown hair and brown eyes. She's really earth colored, but a free spirit. She could probably help you unwind, if you let her." Tai squeezed Matt's shoulder. "I could let her know if you were interested."

"Sounds good to me," Matt said, turning over onto his side and propping his head up in his hand, smirking. "Maybe she can get me to actually write another song."

"Is that what you need her for? Be sure to tell her, so she can help you specifically with that. I'm not sure how. They work in mysterious ways, you know?" Tai continued to smile and tugged on one of Matt's obscure bangs. "But you might have to move past that depressing blues stuff."

Matt chuckled, eyes crossing to look at Tai's hand tugging at his hair. "D'ya think she'd rather help me write a love song, then?"

"I dunno, man. Seems kind of sappy. Maybe you should start off with just some rock songs. You can move up to love songs. Once you feel it strongly enough."

"Maybe..." Matt murmured, pondering the suggestion as he tried to grab Tai's hand and pull it away from his hair.

Tai let his hand be pulled away but took the opportunity to lace his fingers with Matt's. "She'll help you when the time is right. Trust me."

Matt swallowed slightly, feeling his heart skip a beat. It was so silly, and he didn't really understand it, but he knew what he felt. "Yeah, I trust you."

"Good, now let's get some sleep, okay?" Tai chuckled slightly. "We won't have much else to do on the back of this whale."

"...Right," Matt said, laying on his back without letting go of Tai's hand.

"Night, Matt," he said and gave that hand a little squeeze. Tai slept well that night and like he'd done the morning before, Tai woke up early enough to move away from Matt before the others could see them. Both times he would have loved to stay by the other boy's side, but he wouldn't put Matt through something like that. The kid seemed to be dealing with enough crap between his parents, being away from his little brother, and probably some identity issues. Matt didn't need five other kids breathing down his neck because they saw him holding hands with Tai. He didn't want to make Matt explain it to TK either. Matt woke up later, rolling over to find that all of the kids, including Tai, were near the front of Whamon, watching the horizon, even though they still had a few days left in their trip. The blond sighed quietly and picked himself up, shuffling over to the group and fixing his hair as he did so. Tai heard the shuffling of boots and looked over his shoulder to see Matt approaching. And looking adorably disheveled. "Good, you're up. Now that we can all hear it, I have some stuff I gotta say. It's important and I want you all to hear me out. Okay?"

Matt just grunted as a response, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What is it, Tai?" asked Mimi, holding her hat to her head so the wind didn't cause it to go flying into the water.

"So that old man was telling us about our crests and tags before he lost connection, right?" Everyone nodded. "Right. I'm sure everyone is eager to find their crest. We all want to be stronger and help our Digimon to evolve, but... That can't be our main focus." Tai crossed his arms over his chest. "I think that once we get to Server, we should focus on finding the bad guy. We can't waste time arguing and playing favorites when it comes to hunting down these crests. I'm sure we'll come across them as we go anyway. So, basically, you'll get your crest when you get it. We won't try going up against the big boss until everyone has theirs, though, so don't think that we would brush you off if you're last in line. As for the tags... We'll just have to hope we come across them too. If we're lucky we'll come across some kind of base or mountain or fort or something. Is everyone okay with this plan?"

Matt shrugged. "Sounds fair."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. We wouldn't even know where to start looking, anyway!" Mimi exclaimed.

"Precisely. It's more efficient for us to search for one goal and find the crests along the way rather than argue over who's crest to try and find first when we don't even have any idea where they may be," Izzy added, nodding his head.

"I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page so when we got to shore, everyone didn't start wandering off in different directions."

Sora smiled at the brunet. "We wouldn't do that, Tai. We need you. Splitting up would be a silly idea."

Joe nodded and pushed up his glasses on his nose. "Besides, going off on our own would make us easy pickings. Safety in numbers, that's what I always say."

"Sorry, but did you kids say something about tags?" Whamon suddenly boomed from below them, making most of the kids look down.

"Yeah, do you know anything about them?" Matt asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if it's the tags, but I remember hearing that Devimon hid something deep at the bottom of the ocean. It's on the way to Server, if you want to check it out. I can carry you all inside my mouth."

Tai nodded affirmingly. "It's worth a shot. Palmon, can you hook your vines onto Whamon's teeth?"

"Sure, as long as he doesn't expect me to floss them." Palmon whipped her arms and soon there were eight sturdy vines against the whale's head.

Tai pointed. "Okay, now everyone use the vines to climb down. Carry your Digimon on your back if you have to." The boy made sure everyone went down before he did, even ushering Matt along firmly when the blond wanted to go last.

"Ew, Whamon, they're called breath mints!" Mimi shouted once they were all inside.

"Sorry." The Digimon's deep voice echoed all around them. "Hold on tight, kids! I'm going to dive!" Sora didn't cry out like Mimi did when they lunged downward, but she did grab onto Tai's arm. She clung tightly and was obviously doing it on purpose. Tai didn't say anything though. He just stood and let her do what she wanted. He didn't think it would hurt. Matt was watching with a bit more of a critical look in his eyes, but he didn't have much time to glare at Sora before Whamon suddenly righted himself, sending most of the kids toppling onto their backs. The ride was fairly short, and soon, they stopped. "We're here," Whamon announced, opening his mouth to reveal that they were sitting in a pool in an underwater cave.

All the kids jumped out and walked forward to begin their search of the cave. It was long before TK shouted excitedly, "Look everyone!"

"It's a convenience store," Joe confirmed while adjusting his glasses, like maybe he didn't believe his eyes.

"Let's hope they have a special aisle for tags!" Tai gestured with his arm for everyone to move forward. Only feet from the store, the ground began to shake and crack, followed by a large Digimon drilling up from under the rock.

"What is that?" Izzy exclaimed.

"Whatever it is, it's got a Black Gear in it!" Matt shouted, pointing to the dark object lodged inside the purple and white Digimon's body.

"Let us Digimon handle this! You guys go look for the tags!" Gomamon shouted, stepping forward.

Joe stepped forward just as his Digimon Digivolved. "Match him horn for horn Ikkakumon!" While the fight proved as a useful distraction, TK was the first to run head strong into the store with everyone close behind. Not even the store proved to be safe from the fight as one of Ikkakumon's Harpoon Torpedoes barely missed the store, causing everything to fall over and crash inward. "Lead him away!" Joe shouted. Ikkakumon nodded, coaxing the other Digimon away from the store as the kids started to frantically search for anything that may have been the tags.

Suddenly, Poyomon began to call for TK, sitting on top of a small wooden box. "Poy! Poyo!"

TK coughed through the thick layer of dust in the air. At first he couldn't find his Digimon, but quickly enough he spotted the little white blob wriggling under a fallen shelf. "Poyomon! You shouldn't be in there! It's dangerous!" Small hands grabbed at the even smaller Digimon only to pull the wooden box out along with it. "Huh? What's this?" TK then stood and began running around the store. "Matt! Matt! I think I found something!"

"What is it?" Matt asked, rounding the corner and calling to the other kids to come along with him. He walked over to TK and took the box, Poyomon jumping off of it and into TK's arms. Matt blew the layer of dust off the top of the small wooden box and then took off the top. Inside sat seven golden, teardrop-shaped pendants hanging on gold strings. "I..." He lifted one out of the box. "I think these are them!"

Everyone gathered around and their eyes immediately went wide. "They look just like the ones Gennai showed us," said Joe.

Tai grabbed up one for himself and held it up. "Awesome! I can't believe we found them in a place like this!" A sudden roar caught everyone's attention as Drimogemon came barreling towards the store.

"I'll handle this!" buzzed Tentomon. He Digivolved to Kabuterimon in a flash and wasted no time firing his electronically charged Electro Shocker at the black gear. The gear finally disintegrated, leaving Drimogemon looking confused. A short explanation was all it took to get an apology from the Digimon and see him off back into his tunnel. When he was gone, Matt started to pass out the tags, slipping the last one around his own neck.

"Now all we have to do is find the crests," said Gabumon as he observed the tag hanging from his boy's neck, "And we'll be able to Digivolve even further."

Tai made his hands into determined fists. "That's right! We'll go to Server and we'll search them out! Each one of us is getting their chance to grow stronger. As long as we stick together, we can do anything!"

"Right!" The chorus of cheers was elevated by the heightened spirits of the children, each feeling more confident now that they had the tags securely hanging from each of their necks. Whamon brought them all up to the surface, and soon they were all sitting on top of him again, with just two more days left until they reached Server.

"We've been sailing for five days," Tai murmured to himself. He was up bright and early again. Really, it went against his slacker guy style, but he had responsibilities now. He peered through his miniscope to see a speck of land off in the distance. "You guys!" the boy shouted excitedly. "You guys, we made it! Server Continent is dead ahead! We're here!"

They all departed from Whamon, thanking him for his help, and began their journey to destinations unknown. How ironic they went from the ocean to the desert. Suddenly the sea they'd all grown sick of was looking pretty good. Where was this Koromon village Whamon was talking about? It took nearly seven hours of walking before the group reached the forest and another two before they came across the village. Even though they'd been told it was a Koromon village, and Agumon insisted he smelt them a mile away, they found the place to be full of little furry gray Digimon named Pagumon. Despite the odd circumstances, they were rather hospitable, even if it was in a weird way. They dragged Mimi off like they were kidnapping her, only to treat her to a hot bath - which Tai and Izzy accidentally walked in on, getting them both hit in the face with bath items. The Pagumon explained that she'd run into the village ahead of everyone screaming for a bath, and served them food while everyone was given turns to use the luxurious, hot bath. Mimi was joined by Sora first while the boys enjoyed their dinner, and soon they alternated.

The pool was much larger than the last one they encountered. And much more real, to their delight. TK swam round and round while laughing and splashing with his newly evolved Tokomon. Joe had stuck to the far end of the bath this time so as to avoid any more harrassment from Tai and Matt about his modest habits. Tai was currently beneath the water's surface scrubbing vigorously at his hair which had begun to tangle together with dirt and salt from the sea air. He emerged dramatically with a relieved sigh, shaking out his hair which then fell flat and long around his shoulders.

"Wow," Matt whistled, leaning back against the rim of the tub. "Pretty crazy how you keep all that up."

"Try physically impossible," Izzy said as he scrubbed at his own mop of red hair. "That much volume of a substance any thicker than a gas, like hair, wouldn't be able to hold up like that against gravity without the use of hair spray or some other product that none of us are capable of acquiring out here."

Tai shrugged. "I just let my hair dry by itself and it kind of frizzes up. The headband and goggles help hold it up too, though."

"It still shouldn't..." Izzy started, only for Matt to cut him off.

"But it does." His blue eyes looked over at Tai, and he shrugged slightly. "It looks pretty good down, though." Tai smiled at the blond before disappearing below the water again. When he reappeared, he was closer and his hair was now hanging down over his eyes. All that could be seen was a maniacal grin. Tai was glad for the steaming waters that hid his hands from view of the others, so to them it would just seem like he was giving Matt a hard time. In reality, he suddenly grabbed Matt's thighs, dangerously high up, and gave them a squeeze. "Ah!" Matt jumped, his face turning a bright red.

"You okay?" Gomamon asked, kicking past them on his back.

"Yeah, I think I sat on something..." Matt said, pretending to search around in the water and making it look like an accident when he splashed Tai in the process.

"You should be more careful, Matt. Here..." Tai didn't let the splash affect him. He was having way too much fun now. So under the guise of helping Matt find whatever he sat on, those hands grabbed his hips and squeezed just as hard, just as playfully. "You don't want to get pricked again."

Matt bit his lip and made a quiet groan of a noise, which had the other boys looking over at him. "I-I felt it again," he stammered, trying to shift away from Tai, pretending to still be searching for the object.

Tai just snickered as he floated away from Matt. He felt fully satisfied with the work he had done. "Are you hurt?" TK asked as he began paddling over to his big brother. "Maybe you sat on a rock. I stepped on a little rock one time and mommy had to pull it out with tweezers. Did you get the rock stuck in your bottom?" The child asked innocently.

Of course Tai had to burst out into laughter. He laughed so hard it almost hurt. "Yeah, Matt, you get a big hard rock stuck in your butt?"

Matt's face was scarlet, and he wanted to start yelling at Tai, but he didn't have the heart to in front of TK. "No, no, I don't," he explained quietly, thanking that heavy steam silently in his head as he slipped his harmonica from his pants pocket and pretended to pull it out of the water. "Oh, my harmonica... must've fell into the water when I got undressed."

"Smooth," Tai mumbled under his breath.

"Play us a song, Matt!" the littler blond said. "One of the slow ones. I like those ones."

"Y-you want me to?" Matt asked, looking down at his little brother. He looked surprised at first, but a genuine smile came to his face. "Alright, um..." He pondered the song for a second, before picking one he used to play for TK when he had trouble sleeping, back when their parents fought all the time but still hadn't separated. The slow but loud song would help the two brothers drown out the sound of their parents screaming in the living room, and even though Matt couldn't fall asleep when he was playing, it was enough to see that TK would drift off without having to listen to more of the fighting. Matt was willing to lay in bed and listen to them if TK was asleep first, at least. He played the song that he hadn't the heart to play since his mother and TK moved out, leaning back in the water and closing his eyes, focusing only on the harmonica in his hands.

Joe didn't know much about music, and didn't have much taste for it either, but he recognized and respected the talent this younger boy had. Tai found a place to sit and listened quietly to the melody. This song was the bluest of blues. He could feel it. He could feel Matt in that song and how much pain and hurt it took to play the song. Tai tried to think of a time in his life when that kind of song could be played for him. He thought about losing soccer games, but that was so petty compared to your parents' divorce. There was always another game. But then Taichi remembered a time when he hurt more than he ever had. His mother had done something... She had... The boy shook his head and climbed out of the water, walking briskly to the other room. By now TK had settled beside his brother and he sighed slightly when the song ended. "I remember that one. It's my bedtime song. You'd play it so mommy and daddy wouldn't sound so scary."

"Right..." Matt murmured, gently stroking back TK's blond bangs. He'd watched Tai get out of the water with a bit of a frown, and Agumon had followed suit.

"Tai? Tai, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said a bit too quickly. "I just got too hot is all. Go back and enjoy yourself." Tai tried to give a smile. "I'll come back in a minute. Promise."

"If you're sure, Tai," Agumon said, heading back into the room. However, it was only a few minutes before Izzy had gotten out, drying himself off and wrapping a towel around his waist.

"What's wrong?" Gomamon asked.

Izzy shook his head. "Spending much longer than one point five more minutes bathing would have resulted in pruning, that's all."

"I never prune," Tentomon buzzed and flew after the redhead. "One of the many advantages of having an exoskeleton. You should look into getting one."

"I don't think it works like that, Tentomon."

Joe climbed out of the water not too long after. "I'm not a big fan of water wrinkles either. Besides, I'm tired. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Seeya," Matt said. Gomamon reluctantly got out and followed after Joe. Matt looked down at his little brother, noticing that he was looking sleepy. "You want to pack it in too?"

TK nodded. "Yeah, that song made me sleepy." The child leaned over to give the older sibling a hug. "Make sure you come say goodnight before you go to sleep, okay?"

"I will." Matt promised, hugging his little brother before helping him out of the bath. He made sure TK was dry and had all of his clothing folded neatly in his arms before he and his Digimon went off to bed. Matt was left alone in the bath as Agumon padded after the rest. The blond sighed quietly, watching as his brother closed the door to the steamy room. The door creaked open slightly a few minutes later. Tai was only a grey silhouette among the pale veil hanging in the air, but the gentle splashes of him could be heard getting into the tub at the far end. He sat there, letting himself soak, slowly slipping further and further into the hot waters. "Everyone went to bed," Matt said, not turning around to look at Tai. His eyes were still on the closed door. He guessed Gabumon once again didn't want to bathe and was already asleep. Hopefully keeping TK company. One quiet hum was the only response given to this. Matt finally looked over his shoulder, before sliding through the water to sit near Tai. "You okay?"

"Hm?" Tai glanced over at the other. "Oh, no... Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired I guess. Maybe I'm still too hot. I dunno." Matt frowned a bit, but after that song he'd played for TK, he wasn't in the mood for either of them to start talking about the past or their feelings. So instead, he took one finger and very slowly ran it down Tai's spine. Tai shivered. He turned his head more toward the other boy while keeping his eyes down. "Matt..."

"What?" Matt asked, running his finger back up Tai's spine.

"I'm not stupid, right?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Because... I need to. I need to know that I'm not. But don't lie."

"I don't lie," Matt said matter-of-factly, two fingers tracing Tai's spine back downwards. "You're not stupid."

Tai nodded. "Okay..." He placed his head on Matt's shoulder while reaching to rest his hand on the other. "Did you write that song?"

"Mhm," Matt said, his hand snaking around Tai's waist. "I wrote it a long time ago, when my parents first started fighting each other. It was the first song I actually made myself rather than read off sheet music."

"Do you still feel like that? The same way the song feels?"

Matt looked up into the curtain of steam, sighing quietly. "Sometimes, yeah. But I never play that song anymore... not since TK left with my mom."

"You shouldn't have to feel like that," he said as he turned upward and placed a small kiss under Matt's jaw. "Neither of us should have to feel the way we do when nobody's looking. Is that why you started to like me? Because you could tell I kept a bunch of crap bottled up?"

"Maybe," Matt said, his hand running up and down Tai's side. "Or maybe it's because you've got this awesome headstrong personality... Or maybe because you're great at soccer or, really, most of the stuff you try..." He trailed off, adding rather quickly, "Or maybe because you have a nice butt." He coughed, saying a bit louder, "Could be any of those, really."

Tai couldn't help laughing. "I'll be sure to put that last one at the top of my resumé. Either way, I'm becoming more glad that you did start to like me."

"I'm just glad you didn't reject me," Matt sighed in a quick exhale of breath. "I was pretty worried you would..."

"Well..." Tai rubbed his toes up along Matt's leg. "I guess it was meant to be or something."

"Something," Matt murmured, looking down at Tai. He found himself looking at beautiful brown eyes, and he was soon ducking closer to them. So close that he turned his head so their lips could brush against each other. "...Can I?" he asked hesitantly.

The boy turned his face upward slightly so they could meet better. "Yeah, just..." He squeezed Matt's shoulder. "Take it easy, okay?"

"Okay," Matt breathed against Tai's lips. His blue eyes slid shut, one hand sliding up into Tai's hair to gently lift his head so their lips met. The kiss was cautious and soft, Matt obviously feeling eager, but reigning himself back to make sure he didn't mess anything up.

Matt was rewarded with a bit of Tai's own eagerness. He held a little tighter and pressed a little closer. Lips were kept together, but were warm and moist from the humid air. Tai pulled back after nearly a minute while releasing a trembling gasp. He bumped his forehead gently up under Matt's jaw as his breathing was still a bit labored. "I don't want us to hit each other anymore. Even if we end up fighting, we can't hit each other. You gotta swear, Matt. I just can't... Not anymore. Not with you."

"Y-yeah," Matt said quietly, nodding his head and tucking Tai's into his chest. "Alright. I'll swear to that i-if you want me too." His heart was beating a mile a minute. He knew that Tai could hear it pounding against his ribcage, but now, it felt like that was okay.

"I do. It's important. We can't even hit each other as a show for the others. I won't do it." Hearing the rapid beating of the other boy's heart let Tai feel better about their growing relationship. Clearly Matt really was crazy for him. A passing fancy wouldn't make that kind of racket in your chest. "I don't want to be hurt by another person I care about, and I don't want to hurt them. So swear. Swear we won't hit each other ever again. No matter what."

"Okay... I swear," Matt said quietly, brushing back Tai's wet bangs and gently kissing his forehead.

"Good," he mumbled. Tai held onto Matt for a while longer until the heat from the bath was too overwhelming. Even then he was a little reluctant to let go, but he did. He changed back into his clothes in silence and only gave Matt a light pat on the arm when they joined the others for sleep. For once Tai was glad Matt didn't like to talk about emotions and lay everything out on the table. Tai didn't want to talk about what made him say those things. He just wanted Matt to go along with it, not asking questions, which he did. And that was good.

Matt just made a small noise when his arm was pat, his tiny way of saying good night. He noticed that Agumon and Gabumon were curled up together again, even though they didn't need each other for warmth this time. He wound up on one side of them while Tai was on the other. Matt first, however, made sure to sit next to his sleeping brother and lightly pet his hair, whispering, "G'night, TK." The child responded with some sleepy mumbled response, only faintly registering his brother. Matt just smiled sadly, and turned over to go to sleep.


	7. Martyr

Once all the children fell alseep, a pack of Pagumon snuck in during the dead of night to steal away the small Tokomon. They took to tying him up and poking him with sticks until their elder Gazimon found them out. Of course, the Gazimon weren't much nicer. In fact, they ordered for Tokomon to be caged behind the waterfall. Having ordered the Pagumon to detain the children, one Gazimon ran off to inform Etemon of children's arrival. The next morning, Matt was actually one of the first to wake. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, looking around at everyone else. They were all still asleep, but... Where was Tokomon? He frowned a bit, getting up and searching for himself, but to no avail. He'd eventually woken everyone up, and soon there was a village-wide search for the little Digimon. The Pagumon even offered their help, though they simply claimed not to have seen him at all. It seemed like their search would be completely fruitless. "Tokomon! Tokomon!" TK cried out over and over again, almost in tears. Why would his little Digimon run away like this? Hadn't he been doing a good job of taking care of him? TK was supposed to help him evolve, to become Angemon again!

"He wasn't by the waterfall," the Pagumon said in unison. Once again, no one seemed to notice the vicious gleam in their eyes. They'd probably be successful if not for a certain orange dinosaur with a nose that couldn't be beat.

Suddenly, smoke began to rise from over by the waterfall. "Smoke!" Matt shouted, pointing so that Tai, who was up on a roof with his mini-scope, could check it out.

"It appears to be coming from the waterfall," Izzy said from where he sat in the dirt in front of a drawn map of the area, on which he was crossing out spaces they'd checked.

"Nope, nope! We checked there!" the Pagumon insisted. "Nothing there at all!"

"Well, maybe Tokomon got there after you Pagumon already checked."

A sudden screech drew everyone's attention to Mimi who now sat with a tiny black creature sitting in her lap. "It's only a Botamon," buzzed Tentomon as he came to hover by her side.

Palmon stared at the infant Digimon curiously. "But a Botamon shouldn't be here..."

"Why not?" Joe asked.

"Well, because this is a Pagumon village," explained Gabumon. "Botamon Digivolve into Koromon."

Tai looked at the blobby grey Digimon accusingly. "Didn't Whamon say this was supposed to be a Koromon village?" That's when all the Pagumon panicked. They looked at each other nervously before dancing away and singing.

"They're running away!" Sora exclaimed.

"And that means Agumon is in trouble!" Tai took off in a flash toward the waterfall.

The children all followed after him, and they came upon the sight of two Gazimon standing over Agumon, who'd been beaten into the ground. Tokomon and three cages worth of Koromon watched on in horror.

"Tai!" Agumon shouted when he saw the boy, raising his hand weakly from the dirt floor. "Finally!" Agumon was finally able to Digivolve and blast the two Gazimon into the river.

But, despite the victory, every Digidestined's stomach sunk when he heard maniacal laughter, and the projection of Etemon rose up above the trees, speaking into a microphone. "Hello, measly humans!" he greeted in his deep voice, the microphone blaring. "Y'all messed up my beautiful plans, so I'm gonna have to play you a number I just wrote! It's called 'Wrecking the Whole Place'!" Using his Dark Network attack, Etemon summoned a tangle of black cables with fired explosive energy at the village huts.

Tai stepped forward. "We can't let him destroy the village!"

"Everyone, you need to Digivolve. Now!" Sora commanded. Gabumon nodded and quickly Digivolved into Garurumon.

"You say you want a Digivolution? Well... no!" the monkey howled. Strumming his guitar, he used his Concert Crush to send Greymon and Garurumon back into their rookie forms.

"This must be why Mr. Gennai said we needed tags and crests," Sora said suddenly, looking worried.

"A little late for that!" Joe snapped.

"When you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me in! Yeah darlin'!" Etemon started laughing hysterically.

"Come with us!" the Koromon suddenly piped up. They lead the children back into the cave, finding themselves in a small enclosed rock tunnel. "We hide back here when anything bad happens to our village!" one explained, bouncing along until they were sitting in front of a dead end, one with a large symbol carved on the wall.

Tai stared at the symbol which looked something akin to an Aztecan sun. "What does it mean, anyway?" Suddenly the room began to glow bright yellow along with his tag. The stone wall shrank to the size of a small rectangle. "I... I think this is a crest," the boy breathed. Then the little rectangle slid itself inside Tai's tag, retaining the sun-like symbol. "I have a Crest!" Tai exclaimed even louder.

"Congratulations, Tai!" cried Sora as she hugged him from behind.

"Awesome!" Matt said, pumping his fist in the air.

"Look!" Mimi exclaimed, pointing at where the stone wall once stood. They were now looking out at a rolling green mountain-range, with no way to go back through the tunnel.

"The crest must've transported us!" one of the Koromon gasped.

"These mountains are a long way from our village!" another agreed.

"Then we're safe!" Joe said with a big relieved smile on his face.

Tai lifted his tag to look at the crest settled inside. "I actually have a crest... Etemon had better watch out now that Greymon can Digivolve again!"

But no one noticed the black cable lying in the grass with blinked at the sound of their voices. "King Etemon!" one of the Gazimon hissed while looking at a blinking light on the screen. "The Chosen Children have been transported."

"Say what?" Etemon scrambled over to the screen, not believing what he was told. But sure enough, there they were. "Looks like I'm gonna have to stay on my toes with these ones. Of course, they'll be much more worth the kill then, uh-huh-huhn!" he proclaimed with a laugh.

The Koromon thanked the children and said that they knew that by the time they got back to their village, Etemon would be gone. They went their separate ways, the kids off over the mountains as the Koromon sought to go around it the larger one they were just in. The group walked for quite a long time, so long that the rolling green hills turned into desert. "How much farther do we have to walk?" TK asked with a slight whine.

"Until we're someplace Etemon can't find us," answered Joe.

"And out here we're sitting ducks." Sora looked at the group and then leaned in close to Tai. "Everyone is getting really depressed," she said to him quietly.

The boy nodded and turned around. "Come on you guys! We have a crest now!"

"Still, how do we know if it'll actually work? Or how to make it work?" Matt drawled, shading his blue eyes from the sun with one hand.

"Well, from what we've seen with the other Digivolutions, it takes a lot of energy. For example, they cannot advance to the next level if they're hungry," Izzy said matter-of-factly. "Secondly, their partner must be in some sort of danger."

"Well I'm sure Agumon can do it," he said while flashing his Digimon a confident grin. "You're the only one who can now. You have to stand up for all of us on the battlefield! Now... About you needing more energy." All the kids found food near an oasis so they could eat, but Tai came up behind them and insisted that Agumon needed it more. He convinced them it was a necessary sacrifice. "I know you guys are hungry, too, but we can't afford for Agumon to be weak. I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Gabumon watched wearily as Tai sat with Agumon and stuffed the poor dinosaur's face. "But now we can't Digivolve either..."

"He who doesn't work doesn't get to eat," Joe scoffed.

"But it doesn't look like Agumon can take much more, anyway!" Biyomon chirped as they all watched Agumon struggling to scarf down all of the food they'd found.

"The one time we find a great meal just out in the middle of no where, and none of us are allowed to have any," Mimi whined. Matt just nodded, looking tired.

"You and I have to work hard, Agumon. We're the only ones who can protect the others!"

Sora sighed as she watched from up the hill with the other kids. "I'm worried about him... He's forcing Agumon into a corner. Taichi always looked like the type to run off on his own, but he always took his surroundings into consideration. But now... Ever since he got his crest, it's like he's a different person. What if he's carrying too much on his back?"

Joe groaned again. "He's acting like a megalomaniac. That's all."

"It's like the crest changed his whole personality," Izzy observed with a bit of a frown. "He used to count us all as valuable, even us younger kids." He gestured to TK as he spoke. "But now he's acting like none of us could even help!"

"I can't watch this," Matt finally said, standing up, swaying a bit as he did. "If he can't get that tag and crest to work, and all of our Digimon can't Digivolve because they didn't get anything to eat, we'll all be in trouble. C'mon, Gabumon. Let's try and find something for everyone else to eat. Just in case."

Gabumon noticed the way his boy swayed and knew it was hunger. First food he found would be given to Matt. "Oh my gosh!" Joe cried. He pulled out his tag which had suddenly begun blinking bright blue. "M-My crest must be near by!"

"Really?" Tai pulled out his mini-scope and scanned the area. "I see some huge buildings over there!"

Joe scrambled to his feet and began running down the dunes. "I bet my crest is there! I'm gonna go find it!" But he didn't get very far before tripping over a black cable lying just below the sand's surface.

"What's a cable doing all the way out here?" Gomamon asked, as all of the kids rushed over to Joe.

"Nevermind that," said Joe, who was back on his feet. "My crest is waiting for me!"

Matt quietly snuck over to the small bit of food that Tai had abandoned, distributing it amongst the three Digimon that hadn't run off; Gabumon, Biyomon, and Tentomon. "Don't mention it to anyone," he hissed. "But if something bad happens, you guys have to be the ones to Digivolve and help!" They all nodded their gratitiude and muched on the food quickly. Matt hastily grabbed a bit more food and carefully distributed it amongst the group members when Tai wasn't looking. He knew what was right for them. He didn't have his common sense obscured by the fantastical promise of the crest.

Everyone followed Joe to the old buildings, which looked familiar. "It's like the Roman Coliseum."

"What's that?" Tentomon asked.

"A stadium from ancient times," Tai explained. "Only they didn't have wide screen televisions or soccer goals."

"Gomamon and I are going to go look for my crest. You guys hang back and rest."

"I'll go with you!" Tai shouted, running after Joe and Gomamon.

Matt just groaned, leaning back against the brick wall. No matter how Gabumon had pressed him to find something for himself, Matt had insisted that he wouldn't be eating until they were out of here and everyone else on the team had gotten to eat first. He just wanted to sit down when he saw a soccer ball suddenly fall onto the field from no where. "...Am I crazy, or did that soccer ball just appear?"

Sora gasped. "Soccer ball?" She ran over to the checkered ball and began kicking tricks. "Any of you guys want to play?"

"That's sounds like fun!" TK replied, but Tentomon flew in front of him buzzing confusedly.

"What is soccer?"

"It's a game where you use your feet to kick the ball into the goal post," Sora explained. "You can use your head and chest too." Which she did and passed it to Biyomon who just ended up getting knocked in the face, so Palmon caught it in her hands.

"And you can't use your hands," Matt laughed weakly, following after TK out onto the field. "How does the Digimon team versus the human team sound? We might as well, until Joe finds his crest."

"Palmon can be the goalie!" TK suggested as he ran after the ball.

"Here it comes!" she shouted and threw the ball.

Before anyone could get to the ball, though, Tai came in a kick it clear across the stadium. "How the hell can you guys be goofing off at a time like this? Did you forget what we're dealing with? Once Joe finds his crest, we're leaving!"

Everyone looked over at Tai and groaned. Matt himself crossed his arms and frowned. He was about to shout something back, when suddenly the big screen television jumped to life, a looped track of applause playing before the screen flashed to Etemon. "Who's the king!" he demanded, laughing evilly.

"It's a trap!" Sora cried. They all began to run in the direction of the goal in hopes of making it through the doors on the other side. Tai heard his Digimon calling out for him. He turned just in time to see Agumon on the ground and for the goal to fall and trap them inside.

"You think this can hold us?" buzzed Tentomon as he flew straight into the net, only to be electrocuted and thrown back.

"Goal!" Etemon cried, pumping his fist in the air. "Now now, I wouldn't do that if I were you. There's electricity running through that net- it's a shocker, I know," he said, waving one finger. "I'd be there in person, but I'm way too busy. Rock and roll legend and all that. But let's see if you can put your puny little human heads together and come up with the name of our guest star!" The looped applause started up from the screen again as a big, mean looking Greymon stepped into the coliseum and let out a roar.

Tai clenched his fists. "Agumon, you need to Digivolve!"

Agumon forced himself up, wincing slightly before he finally Digivolved in a flash of light into Greymon. Every kid held their breath as they watched the two Greymon start fighting. "Oh, I'm so evil," Etemon said proudly as he watched them. "Thank you, thank you very much."

"Is it just me, or is Greymon going slower?" Matt asked, rubbing his eyes and then shaking his head to make sure he was seeing things right, which only had him holding his head and looking dizzy.

"He consumed too much, so his reflexes are sluggish," Izzy said worriedly.

Taichi watched helplessly as his Digimon was kicked around the stadium. Why was this happening? He had both his crest and tag now! "Greymon, Digivolve! I believe in you, so you have to believe too! Believe in your ability to Digivolve!"

"We have to help! Marching Fishes!" Gomamon yelled, and water suddenly sprayed from the mouth of a small statue at the top of the arena, the fish jumping out of it and grabbing fireworks from one of Etemon's Gazimon to lie at the evil Greymon's feet.

"How is that possible?" Joe asked.

"It's simple, Joe! There's just... a dimensional rift in the water," Izzy explained, though he didn't sound too sure.

"What he said!" Gomamon agreed.

"We should try digging our way out of here," suggested Sora. She got the others to help her moves the stone slabs only to be met with another large stone.

"Hey..." Joe held up his tag, which was now blinking again. "Could this be my crest?" Just like before, there came a brilliant blue flash and the stone shrank to a small piece with a Christian style cross on the front. "I found it- Ahhhh!" Suddenly the ground fell from underneath the children and they fell into a shaft underground.

"Look!" Izzy had Tentomon fly up to a small tunnel that allowed them to all escape. They came back into the stadium, Greymon having been thrown back onto the stone seating, destroying all of the benches on one side of the stadium. The other Greymon roared, starting to charge up a final Nova Blast.

"He could win if he just Digivolved!" Tai growled as he started to climb over the wall, but Sora grabbed him around the waist.

"Don't go out there!"

"Just get out of my way, Sora!"

"But your crest isn't reacting at all! Greymon can't Digivolve like this!"

Tai gripped his tag. "He will," the boy insisted. "I'll make him Digivolve!" And with that, Tai ran out onto the field and put himself between the two Greymon. "You'll have to take me down before you hurt him anymore!"

"Tai!" Matt shouted, his blue eyes widening and he instantly lurching forward and grabbing the brick wall surrounding the field. Of all the stupid stunts...! "Gabumon! Biyomon! Tentomon!" he shouted, looking over his shoulder at them. "You guys have to help!"

All three of them Digivolved and immediately formed a barrier around Tai. Brown eyes remained fixed on his own Greymon who now stood. "I- I believe in you, Greymon! You have to Digivolve, you just have to! Don't let this guy kill you!" That's when both his Digivice and tag began to glow, but the crest was coated in pure black. Five dark fire helixes fell from the sky and consumed Greymon's form. At first Tai was excited, but his expression quickly turned to horror at the sight of what stood before him now.

Greymon's form got bigger and ganglier, and his flesh melted away to reveal a towering skeleton of a Digimon. He let out an inhuman screech before his bony hand smacked the other Greymon effortlessly out of the way, making him smash into the wide-screen television, the screen exploding on impact. Matt's eyes grew even more panicked as he smashed his fists on the rock wall, watching Tai stand in front of the snarling creature like a dolt. "You idiot...!" he hissed, before shouting again, "Tai! Get out of there!"

"Did you really Digivolve from Greymon?" Tai asked the beast standing before him.

Garurumon then leapt in front of Tai. "That's SkullGreymon. He's very dangerous. You need to run, now!" The boy did as he was told and turned to run back toward his friends. Birdramon unleased her Meteor Wing, Kabuterimon his Electro Shocker, and Garurumon his Howling Blaster. But each attack failed. Tai watched in horror as his tainted Digimon began destroying the coliseum. SkullGreymon knocked all of the champions aside, and Matt and the other kids were at once running out to help them as they shifted back into their Rookie forms. SkullGreymon destroyed a whole wall of the stadium and began to march out into the desert, roaring and firing the missiles aimlessly from his back. That was until finally, a black fire began to rise from his bones and he suddenly shifted all the way back to his Koromon form.

Tai ran leagues in front of the others. He could see his Digimon shrinking to smaller and smaller sizes until the little familiar pink bubblegum ball could be seen lying in the sand. "Koromon!" He slid down the dune, stumbling face first in front of the little blob. "Are you okay?" Tai asked as he lifted Koromon into his arms.

"Yes..." the little Digimon said in a quiet voice. "But I've done some horrible, horrible things."

The rest of the kids slid down the dune behind Tai, and Matt's voice said, "You're not to blame, Koromon."

"No... I am," Taichi admitted as he stood up. "I was rushing in with my eyes closed. Being the only one with a crest... I felt like I had to fight all the battles on my own. I had to protect everyone until they found their own crests, but..." He looked down at the sad pink bundle in his hands. "But that was too much pressure on you, Koromon, and I'm sorry."

"I just don't want to let you down, Taichi," the little Digimon responded, nuzzling into Tai's chest.

"You could never let me down," he responded and pet Koromon's head. "You're already so strong. I shouldn't have pushed you." Then he looked up. "And I shouldn't have acted like a jerk to all of you. I thought you all needed me, but I let it go to my head. I'm sorry for that too."

"That's okay, Tai," Izzy said, smiling sadly. He was just glad it seemed as if Tai was coming back.

"We forgive you!" Mimi squealed, clapping her hands at the apology. Matt just stared, his expression unreadable, swaying back and forth on his feet slightly.

Sora shared Izzy's expression. "Just don't carry so much weight on your shoulders."

But Tai didn't hear her. He was too focused on Matt whom he now realized was looking pale and close to keeling over. "Matt...?" Just then the blond started to fall. Tai ran forward, but he was too late.

Luckily Joe dove in at the last second. "It's okay. I've got you."

"W-What's wrong with him?" Tai asked, trying to hide his panic.

"My guess is that his blood sugar is too low. You did take all our food earlier, and while he snuck some to everyone else, he refused to eat until we had all had our fair share," Joe explained while checking Matt's pulse, just to be sure. Matt was out cold, all of the blood drained from his face and his breathing quiet and raspy. Mimi stood over Joe's shoulder and had grabbed the strap of Joe's emergency bag and started to sort through it to try and find any rations he might've stored, while the bag kept bumping into his hip, since Mimi didn't bother to remove it from his shoulder. Joe blushed when he felt her hands inside the carrier bag, seeing as how it was her hands bumping his hip. He fumbled to get the bag off and hand it over to her. "Th-There could be some fruit bars and a bottle of water in the bottom somewhere. The water won't be cold, but it'll be enough."

Mimi nodded, giggling at Joe slightly before she rooted around in the bag and produced the bottle of water and a half-eaten fruit bar. "Looks like someone got in here again," he said with a pout, her eyes at once shooting over to Gomamon.

"What?" he yelped guiltily.

"It's fine. I just need to give him what I have. Something's better than nothing." Joe took the bottle of water and carefully began pouring the clear liquid into Matt's mouth. He made sure to only pour a few ounces at a time so as not to choke or drown the blond.

Tai looked in all directions before passing Koromon over to Sora and running back toward the coliseum. "There must be food in that place somewhere!" Izzy ran after Tai to help him look for something, anything, even though he highly doubted there'd be a scrap of anything edible in a stone stadium in the middle of a desert. Tai's lungs felt like they were on fire as he set foot on the stone flooring, but he didn't dare stop. He had to find something, anything! Etemon couldn't have been keeping that Greymon here without feeding it. Where would that food be? Tai ran down the steps to some catacomb style halls where he ran blindly into the musty shadows. Izzy sprinted after Tai as fast as his short legs could carry him; and since Tai played soccer all the time and was far more athletic than the younger boy, the redhead trailed quite a bit behind him. Tai eventually reached a vast empty chamber beneath the stadium. He saw the massive chains hanging from the wall where the Greymon had been tied up. A giant trough of water sat against the wall. He had hope. But as he moved in further, the only food to be found was a pile of gruel and something that looked like dog food. Tai stood there staring at the pile of animal feed with a blank expression on his face. Slowly his features twisted into something of disbelief, and then into rage. He picked up a handful of the feed and threw it against the wall with an angry shout.

Izzy finally caught up, breathing hard and holding onto one bar of the cage as he caught his breath. "Tai?" He asked, seeing the expression of anger etched hard into his face.

"Matt can't eat this!" he shouted. "If he eats this he'll get sick! That can't happen!" Tai pulled on his hair and started pacing the large room. "Why'd he have to go and do something like that? Why does he have to sacrifice himself like an idiot? No... No, it's not his fault. It's mine!" He punched the stone wall with all his strength. "I had to go and get a fat head! I put everyone in danger because I felt like I had to be the big shot! I'm so stupid!"

Izzy stood himself up and cautiously walked over to Tai's side, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone makes mistakes, Tai. But yelling and punching rocks isn't going to help Matt at all. Let's keep looking."

Tai flinched. He'd completely forgotten that anyone was with him. "There's nothing here... Nothing Matt can eat. I have to go back to the oasis. There was plenty of food there. Go back to the others, Izzy, and tell them where I've gone. Bring them back here where they'll be safe. Understand?"

"Alright," Izzy said, nodding. "Take someone with a Digimon with you, Tai. We can't afford you getting hurt. We need to be as strong as possible... as a team."

He shook his head. "No, I have to go alone. I need some time to think. I'll be okay by myself. Just bring the others back here. I won't be long." Tai stood up and pat Izzy firmly on the shoulder before he began walking out. "Take good care of Matt and Koromon while I'm gone. I'll come back with enough food for everyone. I promise."

"If you're sure," Izzy said, following Tai out of the tunnels and going the opposite way as they left the stadium. He rejoined the group, saying, "There was no food in there. Tai went back to the oasis to get more... he wants us all to get inside the coliseum and wait for him."

"You let him go by himself?" Sora gasped.

"He insisted," Izzy said with a frown. "I told him to take someone with a Digimon, but he refused. He wants some time to think. Maybe he'll cool off." He looked at Tentomon. "But if he's not back in an hour, we're gonna go look for him."

"Roger that," the bug buzzed.

Joe sighed. Looking around the group, he suddenly realized he was now the strongest one physically, but that wasn't saying much. Izzy and TK were too short, and he couldn't ask either of the girls, so he hoisted Matt onto his back and started walking. "Mimi, would you mind carrying my bag?" he asked.

"Okay," Mim said, nodding.

TK ran up to walk alongside Joe and looked up at his still unconscious brother. "Is Matt gonna be okay?" he asked with a slight sniffle.

"Of course. He just needs some actual food and to be out of the heat for about an hour. He'll be just fine."

Mimi picked up Joe's bag and followed him and TK into the stadium, the rest of the kids and Digimon tailing after them. They all sat in a circle between the field and the first row of stone seats. Mimi sat next to Joe and kept rooting through his bag, in case she missed something, and Izzy flipped open his laptop to see if he could connect to the internet.

TK took to his brother's side and waited anxiously for him to wake up. Sora was still holding Koromon, who had now fallen asleep, and was standing by the exit of the stadium. She watched the horizon like a hawk, waiting for any sign that might be Tai returning. Almost an hour went by before she pointed and shouted excitedly. "He's coming! Taichi's coming!" Sure enough, the boy was trekking his way across the sand. Behind him he dragged a large tarp made of palm leaves which he piled to the brim with fruit and other odd foods he'd found near the water. He'd even managed to fill the canteen he kept in his back pocket.

"Oh, good," Izzy said. He'd just been gearing up to head out and find Tai. When the brown-haired boy entered the stadium, everyone sort of simply stood aside to let him through with the food.

"Everyone gets three things," he explained once the tarp was set in a central location. "Matt will be getting a little bit extra for obvious reasons. From there, whatever's left over gets split evenly among us. Everyone eats until they're full, got it? And if you're still hungry after the food is gone, I'll go get more. No one is passing out again. Not on my watch."

Everyone nodded, taking their share. Mimi had abandoned looking through Joe's bag, prompting him to lay Matt down so he could take it back. "It's a good thing you had that water bottle, Joe," she said with a smile as she took fruit for herself and Palmon.

Joe rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yeah? Well... you know me. I'm always ready for something, even when nothing happens."

"That's true," she said, closing her brown eyes with a wide smile. "But that's a good thing, Joe. If you weren't always prepared, we wouldn't have made it this far! Even if we have had to go through it without a decent pedicure."

"Would you really want your nails done when you're walking all around this place?" Izzy scoffed.

"They give you a foot massage, too!" Mimi said defensively. "What I wouldn't do for a foot massage..."

A bright blush that could only be produced by adolescent hormones lit up Joe's face like a orchard of cherry blossom trees. His hands fumbled nervously in his lap and the poor boy nearly swallowed his tongue before he could ask, "W-W-Would you gi-give a k-k-k-k-kiiisssss on the... the ch-cheek for one?"

Mimi looked over at him curiously, having to actually think what he said over in order to understand him with all the stuttering. Finally, she giggled and smiled. "Sure!" she said, leaning over and planting a peck on Joe's cheek.

Joe would have metled into a dripping puddle of bliss right then and there if it were possible. He gave a long airy sigh and his eyes drifted upward, thanking the gods of love for his immense luck. With a very dreamy, albeit nervous, look on his face, Joe carefully unlaced her boots and pulled them from her delicate feet. Of course, Joe would have gladly given her a foot massage without a kiss first, but it was a bonus. Using gentle fingers that had only ever been intimate with a calculator and a pencil he began to massage her feet, even getting between her adorable petite toes.

Mimi giggled, her toes wiggling. "Joe, that tickles!" she squealed, squirming and giving him an adorable looking pout. "You should've told me you were so good at this before!"

He laughed awkwardly. "I didn't know I was so good at it."

"Well, you are!" she said sweetly. Izzy had rolled his eyes and made a fake gagging noise, which got him promptly bopped on the head by Mimi.

"Heh... Um, thanks. Anytime you want it, just ask. Believe me." Tai watched this from the corner of his eye. He couldn't help think how lucky Mimi and Joe were. They could flirt like that in front of everyone and no one cared... for the most part. But not him and Matt, which was why Matt was in Sora's care now. Tai had since taken Koromon back from the girl and told her to look after the blond instead. He was feeding Koromon now; little bits of fruit and bread so as not to make the Digimon sick again. He wished he could be the one with Matt's head in his lap, carefully trying to get him to eat and drink, but that wasn't the case. Tai couldn't be that person right now. Not after everything he'd done.

Matt had groaned as he finally opened his eyes, his vision sort of blurry. He rubbed his eyes before his hand fell onto the stone floor again, and he finally murmured, "Guys? Wh-what happened?"

"You collapsed," Sora told him while gently brushing back his bangs.

"You were too hungry," TK said with a bit more panic in his voice. "Joe said you didn't eat enough, so you fainted. You scared me. I thought you were gonna die!"

Matt laughed weakly, looking over at his little brother. "It's gonna take more than a bit of starving to kill me," he said. To show his brother that he was okay, he tried to sit up, but he failed and had to lie back down because he was still too dizzy.

Sora held his shoulder to help him lay down again. "Be careful, Matt. We haven't been able to give you much. Mostly water. You needed to wake up before we could actually feed you. Good thing Tai went back out and got all that food. We'd have all starved soon enough." She looked at the smaller blond. "TK, go get one of the peaches and a loaf of bread, please."

He nodded. "Okay!"

"Tai got... food?" Matt asked, craning his neck to try and see. But the blood was rushing to his head and he groaned and closed his eyes. "Well... that's good. I want to be back on my feet t-tomorrow. We have a lot of... ground to cover."

"Well, Tai said everyone has to eat to their fill and sleep as much as they need. Even if that means we don't set out until tomorrow afternoon." Sora smiled sadly. "He feels really guilty about everything that happened. I think he's trying to make it up to us by letting us take it easy. He feels like he pushed everyone around too much, so now he's stepping back to let us breathe. No one has insisted otherwise, so... That's the plan."

Matt just frowned. "He should feel guilty," he said firmly. He'd crossed his arms, tilting his head back, eyes still closed. But instead of ranting about how Tai bossed everyone around or pushed Agumon too hard, he just mumbled nearly incoherently, "Worried the hell out of me... idiot."

Sora frowned. "Matt, you know as well as I do that Tai didn't mean to take over the way he did. He's not the leader because he wants to be boss. I think he stepped forward because... He feels like he has to prove himself. Tai feels like he needs to be responsible and take care of us. He's been like that ever since I met him. Sure he runs blindly into danger, but... It's the only way he knows how to get things done. He involves other when he can, but when the situation gets too intense, he takes it all on himself. We're all learning how to deal with each other. Give him time... Okay?"

Matt sort of grinned as Sora seemed to lecture him about tolerating Tai. "Alright." he said, putting his hands up. "I guess I can understand that." He frowned a bit as he added, "But if he throws himself at another evil Digimon, I'm gonna have to do something."

"You and me both," she replied with a soft laugh.

Matt smirked, before looking over at TK. "Hey, little bro. You having trouble finding that food? 'M starvin'," he said with a laugh.

"Coming!" TK jogged back over to his brother with food piled up in his arms. "Sorry, I had trouble carrying everything." Once he set all the food down, there were two peaches, the loaf of bread, an apple, a banana, and a chocolate bar. "I figured you were pretty hungry so I got you lots of stuff."

"Man, where did all this stuff come from?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow as he grabbed the banana and started to remove the peel.

"The oasis," Sora explained. "Tai went back there and dragged a whole bunch of food back here. He made a tarp from palm leaves. There's enough to feed everyone nearly twice over."

"Why would an oasis have... chocolate?" he asked, looking skeptically at the pile of food as he started to eat the banana.

The girl shrugged. "He said he found them in a mail box. Another one was filled with rubber bands and another had bendy straws inside."

"...Freakin' weird," Matt murmured, his mouth full of fruit.

"It's seems like everything we throw away ends up here," chirped TK. "Only the stuff doesn't know where to go, so it just collects in weird places."

"Is that it?" Matt asked, stroking his chin. "It's an interesting idea..." He looked at the pile of food, and shrugged his shoulders, grabbing the bread next and breaking it in half. "Well, whatever," he said passively before taking a bite.

After he'd finished the bread and a peach, Sora held Matt's shoulders and tried to help him sit up again. "You feeling any better?" she asked. "Need more water? Tai got plenty of that too. Plus there's water stored under the stadium, apparently. Tai thinks we should sleep down there tonight since it's safer and out of sight."

"Okay," Matt said, sitting up and rubbing his head a bit. But otherwise, he seemed fine. The color was slowly coming back to his face, and his glassy storm eyes were starting to light up again to their usual healthy sapphire. "I'll be fine. I don't need anything else."

"Matt!" Suddenly, Gabumon came running up to his boy, having just noticed he was awake now. "Oh thank the programmer. I thought we almost lost you there for a little while. Why didn't you tell me you were hungry? I could have found some food for you." Gabumon put his paws on Matt's arms, patting them gently. "You know I hate to let anything happen to you."

Matt smiled, patting Gabumon's head. "Sorry for worrying you, buddy. But I really wanted to make sure that everyone else was okay first."

"You could have just as easily taken a piece for yourself, Matt," the Digimon chided. "You're just as important as the rest of us. Don't put yourself in that kind of danger again. All right?"

"Yeah, I promise," he said quietly, fixing his hair, which he only now noticed that Sora had messed up by petting his bangs. When he was finally content, his blue eyes slowly slid over to Tai. "You okay? SkullGreymon didn't hurt you or anything, did he? It's all kind've a blur."

Tai shook his head, but just barely. "No, he didn't hurt me. More like the other way around." Now he was letting Koromon munch on one of the chocolate bars. "You probably don't remember me saying this, but... I'm really sorry for the way I acted. It wasn't cool."

"It's fine. Just don't do it again," his voice was cold and curt, and everyone listening probably assumed he was pissed off. But his eyes told a different story. He was pleading with Tai not to do anything that rash again. His face was covered with worn out worry.

"I'm gonna try not to... Sorry, again. I didn't realize how much of a jerk I was being." Tai didn't look at Matt once. He was too afraid to. The tone in Matt's voice made Tai afraid to look at those eyes. He didn't want to see something that would make him lose it completely. Matt deserved to be angry, of course, but it still made the brunet feel sick. "I'm sorry."

"Look at me, Tai., Matt demanded shortly, tapping his hand impatiently on the stone floor.

The boy turned his head slowly and finally met blue eyes, though his own brown ones looked as though he'd already been hurt.

Matt his sighed quietly, knowing he couldn't express all he had to say just by looking at Tai. "If we're supposed to camp under the stadium... maybe we should head down there."

Tai nodded. "Yeah, okay." Joe helped Mimi get her boots back on, and then he and Sora worked together to carry the rest of the food down underground. Gabumon followed closely to Matt on one side while TK stuck close on the other. Tai walked at the front of the group, carrying his now sleeping Koromon, and lead them to an empty chamber. It wasn't the same one where the Greymon was kept. He figured no one wanted to see that, so he found a clean one for them to sleep in. Luckily there were obscure light fixtures hanging from the walls, so they weren't completely in the dark. Bright enough to see and dim enough to sleep, actually.

Most of the kids were already sleepy. Unable to connect to the internet outside, and knowing he couldn't now that he was underground, Izzy put his laptop away and used his backpack as a pillow. Mimi groaned, brushing dirt away from her on the floor. "This floor is so disgusting! My hair is gonna get full of dust!" she whined, looking over at Joe and saying, "Mind if I use your shoulder instead, Joe?"

"Oh! N-no... uh, go right ahead." Joe settled against the wall and made sure to brush his shoulder off before Mimi laid her head upon it. "If you'd be more comfortable laying down with your head in my lap, I wouldn't mind either. I- I mean... I'd keep my hands all to myself of course. I just want you to sleep well. That's all. Whatever you want. Go right ahead. Yes."

Mimi seemed oblivious, but she giggled when Joe stammered. "Well, alright. That does sound better." She took off her pink cowboy hat, letting down her long brown hair, and put it next to her before laying her head back in Joe's lap, her light brown hair spilling all over his legs. She promptly curled up and was out like a light in only a few moments.

Joe reached down with one very shaky hand to finger one of the wavy locks. He couldn't believe how soft Mimi's hair was, and it was far better than he had imagined it to be. He took off his glasses and set them inside the pink hat. Joe then fell asleep while rubbing the lock of hair between his fingers. TK was one of the first kids to fall asleep, arm draped protectively over Tokomon. Sora decided to sleep next to the little boy. She'd come to like TK as her own little brother, really. Tentomon settled himself on Izzy's chest while Palmon slumped back against Joe's side. Gabumon fretted over Matt for a bit longer until fatigue proved too strong for him. Meanwhile, Tai was in another corner of the room and building a little nest for Koromon out of rags and other such things he'd found in the halls. Eventually, everyone had drifted off to sleep except Tai and Matt. Gomamon had curled up next to Mimi, Biyomon beside Sora, and Koromon drifted off to sleep again in the small makeshift nest rather quickly. The blond and brunet were left alone, neither willing to get up and start the conversation. Eventually, it was Matt who stood himself up, making sure he had his footing before coming to sit beside Tai.

Tai picked at a crack in the floor, trying to keep his attention off the boy sitting next to him. "Look, Matt, I know what you're going to say. I'm sorry. Really. You think I'm reckless and stupid, and I proved it today. I don't feel like getting lectured. I feel bad enough already. Just... I won't get carried away like that again, okay? I'll do better."

"Please promise me that," Matt said. Instead of the cold tone he'd be using before, his voice cracked with the worry he dare not show the others, but had burned in his blue eyes ever since Tai ran towards the enemy Greymon. "Don't do anything like that again... please..."

His gloved finger skirted over the loose gravel. Slowly he turned his face to look up at the other. This was not at all what Tai was expecting to hear. He was sure Matt was going to be angry and scold him for being such an idiot. Tai expected the same crap from before when Matt belittled his leadership skills, but not this... fear, this sadness. "Are... Are you scared? Is that what this is about?"

"I was," Matt admitted quietly. "I was so scared when you ran at that Greymon... and even more when I saw SkullGreymon." He looked up, as his gaze had been wavering too much to focus on Tai. "I'm too used to losing people. I don't want to lose you... but I thought I was going to."

Tai scoffed. "If I'm stupid enough to pull a stunt like that, I don't think I'm worth keeping."

Matt groaned, looking over at the boy again. "Stop beating yourself up over it. So you made a mistake. We all have."

"It's hard not to, alright?" Tai flicked a pebble across the floor. "Just... Stuff like this goes back. Or whatever. I take it personally. It's no big deal." He sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I'll forget all about my mistake, be back in a good mood, and then screw up somewhere again down the line. Sure I'll be bummed for a while, but soon enough I'll get over that too. That's just the cycle I live through."

"Everyone goes through that," Matt said simply, watching Tai's hands play with the cracked stone on the floor. He was quiet for a moment, but he added, "I always admired how you could get up and try again, no matter what went wrong."

A small smirk pulled at Tai's lips. "Thanks, you're the first person to ever say that."

"More people should, then. And I'm sure they would, too," he murmured, shrugging. "I know Sora was trying to convince me not to be hard on you before, because you'd realize your mistake and get back on your feet again."

Tai flinched. "She did, huh? Um... What else did she say?"

Matt shrugged, like he hadn't listened much. "Some stuff about how you want to be responsible and take care of us... how you only throw yourself into danger because you think that's how to get stuff done..." He shrugged again, only to quirk a brow and look over at Tai. "Why?"

Tai shook his head. "No reason. I was just curious." And he hoped Sora hadn't spilled the beans about his childhood. He would have never had told her if not for her asking why some family photos included him sporting some facial bruises. Tai had told her they were from getting hit with a soccer ball, but being a girl, she could see right through the emotional lie he was trying to feed her. Tai had also made her promise not to tell anyone that story. "Nothing important," he added.

"You sure?" Matt asked, also not one to be fooled. But unlike her, if Tai insisted it was okay, Matt would let it drop. He knew how it felt to be pressed to tell your life story. He rather just wanted to be an open ear if Tai had anything to say.

"Are your parents mean to you, Matt?"

"I wouldn't say that..." Matt said, suddenly picking at the hem of his shirt. "Even though my dad's not around a lot, he's really nice and understanding when he is. My mom..." He sighed quietly. "My mom more or less ignores me. But I wouldn't say she's... mean."

Tai nodded. "That's good. Sometimes parents can be mean. I'd hate to think your parents took their anger for each other out on you. That wouldn't be fair. But..." He looked at Matt again. "I am sorry your mom ignores you."

"It can't be helped," Matt said flatly. "That's just the way she is. She loves TK more, and... well, I have to live with it. At least he's being well taken care of."

The boy tried to smile as he gave Matt a lop-sided hug. "Well, I guess if it means anything, I like you a whole lot more than TK. At least... I like you more in a special kind of way."

Matt laughed quietly, pulling Tai closer by wrapping one arm around his shoulders. "I'd have to do something if you came on to my little brother, so I'm glad."

"You can't come on to my little sister, then, either."

Matt snorted, nearly choking on a laugh. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Tai hugged a little tigher. "Now you have to promise me something..."

"Again?" Matt said, only to shake his head and murmur, "Kidding. What is it?"

"Don't be a martyr anymore."

Matt groaned slightly. "Tai..."

"I'm serious. If I can't pull stunts then neither can you."

"Yeah, but I'm not..." Matt trailed off, before resting his head against Tai's hair and saying quietly, "Fine."

"Thanks." Tai yawned finally. He leaned forward more and more until he managed to topple the both of them; Tai lying partially on top of Matt.

Matt's head hit the hard stone, and he grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Graceful," he said with a tired laugh.

Tai just mumbled, "I'm an athlete, not a ballerina."

Matt seemed to find that very amusing, and with a wide smirk he pulled the boy into both of his arms and nuzzled into his mess of hair. "Mm, I know."

"Can we still like each other when we go home?" Tai asked in such a quiet voice he might not even have been heard.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Maybe we'd be afraid of letting everyone know. Maybe we're afraid of what our parents might think. Maybe we're afraid of what might happen. Maybe we're afraid because... Here, we're together all the time, but at home... We'll have to be apart. We won't have each other to lean on and draw strength from."

Matt shook his head, burying it deeper in the brown locks. "No, we can keep doing this. Even if we do have to be secretive. Once we get back... there won't be so much to worry about. We won't be attacked by monsters or have to worry about running out of water. We'll survive, even if we do have to keep it a secret."

"There'll still be monsters, Matt. Worse monsters than there are in this place."

Matt sighed quietly. "I'd rather not think about that. Everything will work out..." He trailed off, inhaling the scent of Tai's hair deeply. It smelt mostly of sweat from the hot desert sun, but Matt found himself liking the salty smell.

Tai swallowed. "I'm not a faggot..."

Matt sighed slightly. He knew that feeling, the one he heard in Tai's voice. "Of course not," was all he said, rubbing Tai's back reassuringly.

"I'm not a faggot," he said again, tone low and trailing as he began to fall asleep. "M'not..."

Matt just hushed him, murmuring, "You're not."


	8. What's Going On Inside

The desert was completely unforgiving. From walking miles in the hot sun, being told by Gennai that they weren't taking proper care of their Digimon, and several run-ins with danger, Matt found it to be a wonder that they kept going. They fought Kokatorimon after being caught on his boat with their Digimon frozen into statues, and had to fight a Tyrannomon that destroyed the magical boundary into the sanctuary of Piximon, their temporary teacher. But, a few good things happened, the first being the brief lessons they received from Piximon. They also found Mimi's, Matt's, and Izzy's crests. Their slow collection of the crests raised team morale, and they seemed to be all in good moods, despite complaining about the heat during the day. Once they were sitting around the fire in the cool desert night, they went from concerned, worried travelers to being kids again. Laughing, talking, sharing stories. This had gone on for weeks, or what felt like it. Time seemed to slip away from them when every day was traveling and then searching for camp. Tonight the group found themselves standing at the mouth of a cave in a large mountainside they'd started keeping close to in order to travel in a sliver of shade. Matt and Tai were now locked in quite a fight, though they didn't throw any punches. They growled and stomped and clenched their fists, though most of the kids were surprised that they hadn't started wrestling in the sand yet. "Me and Gabumon are going to take the first shift!" Matt was yelling.

"No way!" Tai shouted back. "I've seen you nodding off on first watch before! Agumon and I will take first watch! You and Gabumon can go second if it means that much to you!"

"I do not fall asleep on my watch, ever!" Matt yelled. The other kids were standing in the mouth of the cave, watching them back and forth like a tennis match.

Finally, Mimi tugged on Joe's sleeve and quietly said, "Do something, before they start really fighting!"

While Joe hated getting into the middle of fights, especially when he could be walking into a punch in the face, his gallant side could not resist Mimi's plea. He pushed up his glasses, sucked in his breath, and walked forward. "Guys, guys, come on... Who goes first isn't important. Why don't you both take watch at the same time? Two sets of eyes are better than one, and you can keep each other awake, too."

"Well... I suppose that's fine," Matt snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back on his heels.

"If it'll get Matt off my back, then sure," said Tai, who also crossed his arms, but turned his back in an arrogant fashion. "But I still don't like the idea of having to keep him awake. I'm not his mom." Joe just sighed. There never really was a compromise with these two. Both of their Digimon heaved a sigh of relief; neither had wanted to take a shift that night.

"It's settled then. Matt and Tai will take the first shift, and the rest of us can rest," Izzy said with a quiet exhale, glad that the two hadn't started a brawl over something so silly.

"Me and Joe can go second! Right Joe?" Gomamon said excitedly, his tail wagging as he looked up at Joe.

Gomamon's chipper voice caught the boy's attention so he looked down at the white seal creature. "Uh... second shift, right. I guess so."

"Great!" Gomamon always preferred taking an earlier or later shift, since he didn't like being woken up halfway through the night for a middle shift. "Now that that's settled, let's all get some shut eye!" He was being overly excited about everything for seemingly no reason, until Mimi came over and picked him up, petting his fringe of orange hair. Joe sighed. He knew how clever his little Digimon was, and sometimes wished otherwise. Joe knew what Gomamon was doing. The little seal was helping to bait Mimi with his spunky, adorable attitude. Mimi fawned over Gomamon and in turn fawned over Joe. The boy really wished he didn't need his Digimon's help like that. Sure his crush on Mimi was obvious, but Gomamon didn't have to set up every little thing. It seemed even Palmon was in on the whole thing. Joe heard her whisper to Mimi on occasions about how sweet and honorable she thought Joe was. Did he really seem that desperate that the Digimon thought he needed their help? Apparently so... Gomamon nuzzled against Mimi's hand and Mimi giggled, tugging on Joe's sleeve as she passed and followed everyone into the cave. Gomamon didn't see anything wrong with it; he just wanted to make Joe happy. And if he got cuddled by Mimi in the process, it was just a plus, right? Joe just sighed again and nodded as he followed the girl into the cave. On top of everything else, he was jealous of Gomamon for getting so much cuddle-type attention from Mimi. He didn't hate his Digimon for it, but those were his feelings regardless.

Tai bid goodnight to Agumon before the orange dinosaur wandered into the cave for his night of sleep. The brunet put up a high and mighty front towards Matt until everyone was deep enough inside the cave that he could relax. "Nice work, man."

Matt just laughed. "Hook, line and sinker," he said, waving his hand. Him and Tai had been getting much more comfortable with each other over the few weeks they were travelling the desert, and the fake fights to get some time alone to 'talk things out' weren't rare anymore.

"Thanks for not getting rough. I know it probably throws the gang off, but..." Tai just smiled and shook his head. "Nah. Forget about that. Looks like we have another night to ourselves." He approached the blond and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'd have brought candles and a fancy sushi dinner, but that mushy stuff isn't really my style."

Matt grinned, wrapping his arms around Tai's waist. "Yeah, I don't mind. Another night's good enough," he said, kissing the brunet's cheek back.

Tai took his gloves off and let them drop to the ground. Next he moved his fingers up into Matt's cockatoo head styled hair and played with the obscure locks. "What do you feel like doin' tonight? Other than keeping an eye out for danger."

Matt was just smiling, throwing off his own gloves into the sand as well. "I'unno," he murmured. Everything just seemed better now. He had been so paranoid that Tai would reject him. He always had been, ever since he found himself liking him, as much as he hated himself for it at first. Just feeling Tai's fingers in his hair made his face heat up - even though he usually snapped when people tried to touch the blond locks. Not now, though. Right now, he was grinning like an idiot and kissing Tai's neck.

Tai just smiled as he continued playing with blond hair. "You're such a girl," he snickered into Matt's ear.

"Shut up," Matt grumbled in Tai's ear, kissing at that instead in-between words. It didn't bother him as much as he made it sound like it did.

"You know I don't mean it." Tai kept one hand in Matt's hair while the other slipped down. He began exploring the other boy's body, but he barely touched. Rather his fingers would ghost over Matt's neck or arm or his shirt. Tai was shy and naturally so, being only eleven and knowing nothing about love. Eventually his hand found the hem of Matt's green shirt where it slipped under and touched the small of the blond's warm back. "Is... Is that okay?" he whispered.

Matt gasped slightly, not expecting to feel Tai's hand there. Sure, they'd started doing stuff like that as the weeks rolled on, both of them curious and naive and eager. But never before had their hands moved under clothing. But the feel of Tai's fingers against his back felt really, really good. "Yeah, yeah... that's fine," he said, swallowing slightly.

Tan fingers stroked the pale flesh in very short, small gestures. "I just wanted to know what you felt like. I mean... not that you would feel weird or different." Why was he making excuses? "You're smoother than I am, though. But just as warm. It's... It's uh... Kind of nice. Don't you think?"

Matt nodded a bit robotically, shivering a bit from the feeling. "I-It is, uh, very. It feels..." He stopped himself, and instead of attempting to explain, slipped his own hands up under both of Tai's shirts, doing the same to him.

Now it was Tai's turn to gasp. Was this how Matt felt? "Wow," he breathed stupidly. "It feels really nice." Tai knew his own skin was rougher from playing sports and sliding around and getting hurt. Vainly, he hoped this wouldn't bother Matt. He snickered in an attempt to hide his nerves. "I bet we look stupid."

Matt agreed with a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure we do," he said, feeling just as stupid as Tai said they must've looked. But something went off in his mind, and he put another kiss on the other boy's ear, pulling him closer by the small of his back. "But... ask me if I care."

Tai pressed his hand a little closer. "Do you?"

"No," he answered huskily. "You?"

Tai shook his head. "No... I feel good. I feel kind of... safe, actually."

"Safe?" Matt asked, his other hand slipping under the blue and yellow fabric as well.

"Yeah..." was all he said in reply. "Safe."

Matt pulled his head back a bit, seeming curious, but at the same time, contented with the answer. They'd finally gotten past asking each other permission for kisses or even looking around like someone had a video camera. Matt simply leaned forward and pressed his lips to Tai's. Tai pressed into the kiss in return. The boys never went too crazy. All they did was kiss with lips closed and play with the soft smacking sound that came when they pulled apart. Tai was trying to not get too emotionally down when he was with Matt, either. Which was hard. Dad wasn't too terribly affectionate because, well, they were father and son. Kari was his little sister and she loved him no matter what. Mom would hug him, but there was always that lingering memory between them. With Matt there was no history. Tai didn't have to prove himself to Matt and there was no lingering abusive wall between them. Tai could be with Matt and feel safe, loved, and happy. Matt had always been happy with just the kisses, but it always seemed like something wasn't quite right. When he watched movies and TV shows where people kissed, they did it... differently. And they sounded like it felt amazing... or maybe that was just over the top acting. But people seemed to think it was believable, so there just had to be something more. He thought he sort of understood what it was, just from his own curiosity, but he still wasn't sure. He pulled back from the kiss after a moment, but only enough to hear that lovely sound. His lips still lingered on Tai's just slightly as he murmured, "Hey, um... d-do you... Do you think that's... all we're supposed to be doing?"

"What else are we supposed to do besides kissing?" Tai asked innocently, not quite getting what Matt was aiming at.

"Ever watch romantic movies?" Matt asked, hoping that he wasn't alone on this observation.

This only made Tai snicker. "You really are a girl." But he couldn't deny his mother making everyone sit down one night a month and watch a romantic film, so he added, "Yeah?"

Mat frowned at that, blushing a bit, but carried on. "Well, I dunno. The people in those movies just... kiss differently. Y'know?"

"Like with their mouths open?"

"Yes! Exactly."

Tai frowned just the tiniest bit. "Don't you think that's kind of gross?"

"Well, I dunno," Matt said, also frowning a bit. "It does seem sorta weird. But... people do it, right?"

"Do..." Tai glanced away for a second and then looked back at Matt. "Do you wanna try it?"

"It's worth a try." Matt said awkwardly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Can I keep my eyes open? I don't wanna miss."

Matt laughed nervously, nodding. "Y-yeah, okay."

Tai let his mouth fall open just a little and turned his head slightly at an angle. He moved forward again until his lips met with Matt's. The boy still missed a bit, not quite landing square on the blond's mouth, so he pulled back and tried again. First his mouth was open more than Matt's and then his mouth was closed more. Suddenly he was so nervous that he hiccupped. Tai couldn't help laughing. "I suck so bad at this."

Matt laughed as well, pulling back a bit and saying, "We have to be doing something wrong..." he said, pondering it aloud. He tried remembering everything he'd watched, and suddenly, something came to mind. "Hey, Tai?" he said, sliding one of his hands up onto the brunet's neck. "L-let me try something?" he asked as he pulled Tai close again.

"If it means you can get this to work, then sure."

"Okay, um..." Matt pressed their mouths together, and it at first didn't seem like anything would be different. But after a moment, he slipped his tongue into Tai's mouth. Tai let out a muffled gasp. What the hell was Matt doing? He didn't remember tongues being a part of the movies, but then again, he never paid much attention either. Minutes went by before the boy got used to his wet foreign muscle in his mouth. Matt tasted like someone who hadn't brushed their teeth in forever and tried to hide it with oranges. They'd been out in the Digital World so long, though, that that was probably true at that point. And of course, Tai probably wasn't much better. Tai couldn't decide if he liked this or not. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't really awesome either. Not yet anyway. Maybe they would have to practice more. Eventually, Matt pulled back. Tai just standing there, not doing anything, hadn't really helped. But he figured it was because, perhaps, he was doing it wrong. "Sorry," he apologized, wiping his mouth and blushing.

Tai shook his head. "No, it's okay. I just wasn't expecting that. Are you sure we're supposed to use our tongues?"

"I think so," Matt said, frowning a bit. "I saw some people do it in a movie once. They... both had their tongues in each other's mouths. And were moving them a lot..." He shrugged. "It looked like they were enjoying it."

"Mmm... Maybe we have to try more? You know... practice?"

Matt nodded. "That makes sense, yeah, probably."

"D-Do you want to practice now? Try again?"

"Y-yeah, sure," Matt said. He swallowed a bit, before leaning forward and pressing their lips together again. He hesitantly slid his tongue back into Tai's mouth, not sure what exactly was supposed to happen when the other boy followed suit.

"Mn... wait..." Tai pushed Matt back. "It doesn't feel right when we do it like this. We're stiff and weird. I want to try something different." Tai then sat on the ground with his knees bent up a little. Next he pulled Matt down and had the blond straddle his lap, using his own knees as a support. "You like this?" he asked.

"U-uh-huh..." Matt stammered, his face turning a bit red. But he nodded, saying, "Should we try again, then...?" Tai nodded. He leaned forward this time and made contact with Matt's mouth. He used his own tongue to get inside Matt's mouth, hoping maybe it would work better this way. Maybe Matt would be more willing to receive Tai than having it the other way around. Matt, however, had assumed he'd be doing the same thing again, and slid his tongue forward at the same time. Their tongues slipped past each other, brushing together as Matt's moved into Tai's mouth, and Tai's into his. And he wasn't sure what it was, but something seemed to spark from that touch, and the blond shuddered and groaned quietly into the kiss. Tai had a bit of the same reaction. He pulled Matt closer, wanting to get as much of the blond in his mouth as possible. So was this it? Instead of just one tongue at a time, did they both have to do it? Seemed to make sense, since this felt so good. Tai was learning more and more that their activities needed to be shared for ultimate enjoyment. He ran his tongue along Matt's and found some strange joy in the slick wet sound this produced. Matt moaned again, also liking the noise for a reason he couldn't quite place.

The two kept trying to press closer and closer, but finally, they lost their balance and fell backwards, the kiss breaking apart and Matt falling on top of Tai, panting, in the sand.

Brown eyes stared up at the twinkling stars in the sky. Arms were still wrapped around another boy's body. A chest was heaving slightly, pushing up against another body and then retreating. "Wow..."

Neither of them had really taken the thought to pull back for air, so the unceremonious forcing apart left Matt gasping for breath. Finally, after a long pause, he managed, "Yeah. Wow."

"I really liked that."

"M-me too," Matt said, turning his head to look up at the other boy. "I think that's how you're supposed to do it."

"And even if it's not... I liked that way better than anything else we were supposed to do."

"Agreed," Matt said. His blue eyes watched the rise and fall of Tai's chest. "It's gonna be hard not to sneak off from the group all the time..."

"Well..." Tai took deep, slow breaths. "Just think about how worth our time alone together will be, having to wait for it. Like a really awesome reward for being patient."

"I guess." Matt said, turning his blue eyes upward and idly playing with the strap of Tai's goggles.

"But it's still totally going to suck," he admitted with a smirk.

"Well..." Matt murmured, smirking as well. "We still have the rest of our shift."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Matt pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, leaning over Tai and kissing him again.

Mimi had the last shift, and it was she that came into the cave with Palmon to wake everyone up. She was holding some crumpled bundle in her hand, and walked over to Tai and Matt first before waking anyone else up. She shook their shoulders, and when they finally groaned awake, she tossed the sandy pairs of brown and white gloves to them. "Forget something?" she giggled.

"O-oh," Matt said, looking at the sand spilling over his chest from the brown gloves. "I totally forgot... thanks, Mimi."

Tai sat up and rubbed sleepily at his eyes. "Oh right... We threw them off when we got into that fight." He picked up the gloves and started slipping his hands into them.

"Tai, not again," Sora scolded as she sat up as well. Suddenly the girl gasped and grabbed his hands. "What did you do?" Before going to sleep last night, Tai had thoroughly rubbed his knuckles against the sand and rocks to get them scraped up. Sora tenderly touched the red breaks in his skin with a deep frown on her face. "You guys need to stop fighting so much. One of you is going to seriously get hurt one of these days."

Tai just laughed her off. "Yeah, well maybe if Matt wasn't such a thorn in my side, I wouldn't always need to put him in his place."

"Maybe if you weren't always hounding me, I wouldn't be a thorn in your side in the first place," Matt countered perfectly, slipping his own gloves on as well.

"What happened to your neck?" Mimi asked, pointing to a red spot that Matt covered with his hand.

"Ah, it was a rough fight. Don't worry about it," he said quickly.

"Did you choke him?" Sora demanded with wide caramel eyes.

Tai was reluctant to answer. If he said no, then what would they say it was? If he said yes, then he would be the ultimate bad guy. "O-Only for a second..."

Sora threw his hands from hers and pushed the boy as she stood up. "That's horrible, Tai! I can't believe you would do something so dangerous! I can't believe you!" And then she stormed out of the cave leaving Tai on the floor feeling incredibly guilty.

Matt sighed, getting to his feet. He cast Tai an apologetic look before walking out after Sora, fixing his collar so it covered the redness of his neck. "Sora?" he called, jogging after her. "Sora, don't be mad at Tai."

She turned and anger flashed across her face. "How can you be defending him? Tai went way too far this time! Don't you realize what could have happened? This fighting of yours isn't a game! You could kill each other if you aren't careful!"

"Sora, we'd never kill each other," he said truthfully. "And he meant it when he said it was just for a second. He went for it, realized his mistake immediately, and let go. It's really not a big deal."

"That doesn't make it right, Matt! The point is that he started to in the first place. You guys are out of control!" Even though the tone of her voice was still angry, there was evidence of tears forming in her eyes. "These fights you get into... He's almost like a different person. Tai is never violent. Never! When he hits you... I just don't understand. He should know better! Of all people, Tai should know how awful it is to hit someone!"

Matt didn't really know what Sora was going on about, or how he was supposed to handle this situation. He stood there dumbly, trying to come up with something to say. "But..." he started, trying his best to force up the words, "We're both fine... We don't really mean it, I know that and he knows that. It's just... the best way for us to communicate." He paused, adding, "It's a guy thing, I guess. But we wouldn't seriously hurt each other."

"Was it the best way for Tai's mom to communicate when she hit him?" But the very second the words were spoken, Sora gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth.

Matt froze, staring at the girl with confused blue eyes. He was quiet for a moment, but he felt his stomach drop somewhere around his feet. "What?"

Sora shook her head frantically. "I... I wasn't supposed to say that. You didn't hear it!"

Matt just continued to stare, breathing, "Sh-she hit him?"

"When he was little she used to hit him a lot. He told me it was a secret. I wasn't supposed to-"

"Sora!" Tai stood behind Matt a foot or two back. He was glaring at the girl with fists clenched down by his sides.

"Tai... I didn't mean-"

"We're leaving," he said sharply. Sora just nodded guiltily and walked past the both of them to join the others. Tai then shifted on his heels and began to follow her.

Matt just stared, the color draining from his face. Was that it? So many things made sense from that tiny bit of information. He turned around, watching Sora slink away and Tai start to storm off. "Tai..."

"Drop it, Matt. It doesn't matter."

"...Okay," Matt said quietly, following after Tai with a frown on his face.

They all walked through the desert for almost four hours before finding anything. Eventually they came to a power box grounded in the sand with multiple sets of cables running through it. "That's it!" Tentomon buzzed excitedly. "Finally, it's your time to shine, Izzy!"

"Looks like it's a part of Etemon's network," Izzy said, putting his laptop down on top of it and looking at the wires emerging from the box. "If my assumptions are correct..." He unplugged one of the cables, and stuck it into his laptop. Suddenly, a map of the area appeared on his screen. "Prodigious!" But after only a second, an e-mail popped up. "Whoah, I've got mail."

"From who?" Mimi asked.

"Don't know. I don't recognize this e-mail."

"It could be a trap," Matt said skeptically. "Maybe Etemon knows we're in his network."

"If it's trap when we should run!" cried Palmon.

Tentomon hovered over Izzy's shoulder worriedly. "Izzy, quick, unplug your computer!"

"Calm down, everyone," Sora said as she waved her hands. "Let's at least see what it has to say."

"Go ahead and open it," Tai said.

Izzy nodded, and clicked on the e-mail. It opened, and suddenly a computerized voice shouted, "S.O.S! Mayday! Please help!"

"Help?" Mimi asked. "Someone's in trouble?"

"Apparently," Izzy said, scrolling down to the actual text of the e-mail. "His name is Datamon... held prisoner by Etemon... needs our help getting out..." He gasped suddenly. "He'll show us where a crest is if we help him!"

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Tai chirped. "Let's get going!" The boy ran off, forcing the others to follow him.

"Tai, I don't even know where it's coming from yet!" Izzy called, but Tai already had everyone following him in some random direction. Izzy quickly did a coordinate check, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him until he caught up with Tai and lead them in the right direction.

"But what if it really is a trap?" whined Joe.

Sora shrugged. "He could be on our side like Mr. Gennai. Not everyone has to be an enemy. Remember how Leomon helped us on File Island? Maybe Datamon is the same way."

They walked for quite a while, Izzy saying, "We're getting closer... the signal's getting stronger."

But suddenly, Tokomon was bouncing at TK's heels. "TK, TK! Your tag! It's glowing!"

"Huh?" TK pulled the tag from under his shirt and saw that it was indeed glowing a brilliant yellow. He looked around the area and noticed a passage way off to the left. He started to run, holding his tag in front of him, and it began to flash. "It must be over here!" And there on the rock wall was the carving of a sun on top of a flat mountain. Once the child was close enough, the symbol began to glow, nearly blinding them, but it quickly shrunk down to size. "I have my crest!" TK proclaimed proudly.

"Congrats, little bro!" Matt said, patting TK on the head and grinning. "Don't think this means you get to stay up later."

"Now the only crest left to find is Sora's," Izzy said. "Maybe Datamon intends to help us locate it."

"Hey, look!" Mimi suddenly shouted, pointing to where TK's crest once was. Now, the stone wall had cut away in a perfect square to reveal a long cavern.

"I wonder if that's where we're supposed to go," Joe surmised while pushing up his glasses.

Tai turned back to Izzy again. "What does your computer say? Should we go in?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't be beneficial to take a look anyhow," Izzy stated, suddenly running into the cave. He skidded to a stop, looking up at the walls. "Prodigious! The same hieroglyphics I saw before!" The walls were covered in strange writing, and Izzy was studying it carefully. "This one is new..." he murmured, wiping one of the symbols away. And when he did, the whole cavern suddenly lit up.

Everybody gasped in amazement when Izzy made the lights come on. "How'd you do that, Izzy?" exclaimed the youngest of the group. "It was super neat-o!"

"These things aren't writing, you see." Izzy explained. "I theorize that it's computer code. Change a part of the code, and you change the whole program." He dragged his finger through one symbol, changing it. Suddenly, a flat, holographic map sprung up in the air in front of them. "Like that, for example."

"N-No way..." Joe ran his hand through his hair. "You can do stuff like that just by manipulating a program on a stone wall? It's not like we're in a computer or anything..."

"Actually," Izzy corrected him, "I believe we are. Not exactly a computer, but a digital world. It seems that everyone we meet and everything we see here is actually the physical manifestation and representation of data inside a program."

"If this world is full of data..." Sora began. "Does that mean we're made of data too?"

"You mean we aren't flesh and blood?" Tai asked.

Of course, this worried TK. "Then where's my body? Is someone taking care of it? Are we dead?"

"We're not dead," Izzy said, shaking his head. "I think that everything in this world is linked to our world. They're parallel. And if that's true, then our bodies are still alive back at the campsite. We exist simultaneously with our real bodies, but we're only conscious of what's occurring here."

Tai scratched his head. "So are we inside a video game kind of thing?"

Izzy paused, not quite sure how to explain it. "Here, take a look at this," he said. He started typing frantically with one hand, and suddenly the holographic map curled up into a sphere. "This is a 3D map of the digital world," Izzy explained. "And this..." Another sphere appeared beside it, this one with familiar continents and oceans. "Is Earth. Now watch what happened when I overlay them..." The two holograms merged together, and the white lines that were dashing them lined up perfectly. "Those white lines represent the digital networks of our world. Internet hookups, phone lines, the works. The digital world is the actual form of all of these lines and systems."

"That makes it sound like we're still on Earth somewhere," Tai pointed out.

"We can go home soon, then, right?" TK asked hopefully.

Sora just frowned sympathetically. She knew it wasn't as simple as that. "I think what Izzy means is that... We're close to Earth, but not quite on it."

"That's right, Sora," Izzy said. "We're not on Earth. We're in a world made by Earth's digital networks."

Joe sighed. "Well I guess that means we aren't going anywhere any time soon."

"Of course not!" Tai said. "We still have too much to do in this world. Starting with helping the guy who sent us that e-mail. Izzy, any word on where to go next?"

"Well, if I can use this program here to zero in on the e-mail..." Izzy began typing furiously, when suddenly, a red dot started blinking on the map. "Here it is. Now..." He looked at the writing on the wall, and moved his finger through a few more of the symbols. At the end of the cavern, the opposite wall glowed and vanished. "Through there! That's where our virtual penpal is."

"I can't believe he was this close all along!" Sora exclaimed. Tai ran to the new opening in the cave which turned out to be the mouth of a sphinx. He gazed out over the desert to spot an upside down pyramid. "What's that?" he mumbled when he next spotted a familiar caravan speeding across the sand. Tai pulled out his miniscope and used it to see what the moving speck was. "It's Etemon!"

"Oh, great," Matt groaned as he and the rest of the group came to peer out of the opening as well. "Of course he had to come here too."

"Now what?" Mimi asked.

"We wait until tomorrow and come up with a plan," Izzy said, closing his laptop. "It's gonna get dark soon."

"We should camp at the other end of the cave," Tai decided. "Etemon shouldn't have any chances of spotting us." Soon the sun set and the children decided their shifts with Tai going first, followed by Sora, then it would be Joe, and so forth. Tai spent most of his time staring out at the desert keeping a watchful eye for Etemon. The last thing he wanted was to suffer a surprise attack. Soon the shuffling of feet caught his attention.

"Tai, it's time to change shifts." The boy nodded to the girl and started for the cave. "Hey, Tai?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

He frowned. "About what?"

She looked down nervously. "Well, you're doing all of this just for my crest. I just want to say I'm sorry."

Tai grinned. "I'm not gonna turn my back on you."

"But... I turned my back on you..."

Tai shook his head. "Forget about it. Water under the bridge." He went into the cave then and found Matt, whom he sat down next to. "You awake?"

Even though his eyes were closed and he was curled up on his side, Matt sighed and murmured, "Yeah, I'm awake." He opened his eyes, sitting up and rubbing at them with a gloved hand.

Tai looked guilty. "Oh man... I woke you, sorry."

"No, it's okay. I wasn't sleeping," he said, frowning a bit. "Just trying." He looked over at Tai, saying, "What's up?"

Tai glanced at the blond only for a second. "Can I be totally lame and ask for a hug?"

Matt grinned slightly. "Sure." He wrapped his arms around the other boy's shoulders, pulling him close.

Tai returned the hug with plenty of warmth and gentle strength. "Pretty cool how your little brother found his crest."

"Yeah," Matt said, smiling fondly. "I'm glad his was right out in the open, and he didn't have to climb down a well like I did."

"Good thing..." Tai rested his chin right in the dip of Matt's shoulder. He sighed quietly. "Hey, Matt? I'm sorry I snapped at you before."

"No, no, it's okay," Matt said, shaking his head before resting it in Tai's hair. "I know the feeling, you had every right to snap."

The other boy shook his head too. "No, it's not cool. I... I don't like getting into fights. Plus I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong. I just..." He sighed. "Sorry."

"If you insist," Matt sighed. "Apology accepted, then," he murmured, rubbing small circles on the boy's shoulders.

After a few seconds, Matt could probably feel little wet drops falling on his shirt. Tai's body tensed up too. "Damn it... Stop..." he whispered.

Matt lifted his hand, looking surprised. "S-sorry. What...?" he started, but trailed off.

"I'm not supposed to cry."

"Why? What's wrong with that?" Matt asked, even though he at once felt like a hypocrite. He never let himself cry in front of people... except Tai. Otherwise, he usually kept it bottled up, so he wasn't one to ask.

"I won't learn if I cry. Crying doesn't fix my mistakes. I... I'll never be a big boy if I keep crying. Big boys don't cry. They just don't. I have to..." Tai started to shake. "Don't think about it. See what happens? So just stop..." His voice fell back into a whisper. "What would she think of you now? You know what she would say. Stop crying..."

Matt's eyes widened slightly, and a very sad expression fell over his face. He pulled the boy closer, holding Tai to his chest and hushing him quietly... like he used to do with TK. "It's okay... you can cry if you want to. It makes it feel better, no matter what they say."

Tai was virtually silent, almost like he wasn't even breathing, and then a shuddering sob escaped him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I... I'm trying really hard. I swear. You know I don't mean to. I want to make you happy. Honest. I-I'll try harder. I swear. Don't be mad. I'll d-do better. I will. I'll do better." It made Matt's heart ache to listen to that. Just like when he and TK would listen to their parents fight, and his brother would turn to him and ask him if it was their fault, on the verge of tears. And just like those times, Matt didn't know what to say. He just pulled Tai closer and kept trying to hush him quietly. He figured it was best to let him let it out. Tai cried and cried until he'd utterly exhausted himself. The boy fell asleep right there in Matt's arms. A quiet sniffle or whimper would slip out now and then, but he was out cold for sure. No doubt he would feel like a fool in the morning. Once again Tai had become the emotionally weaker of the two and let his anguish ruin their time together. He really did hate making Matt sit through all this. Tai didn't think they were supposed to carry each other's baggage. Matt just pet Tai's mop of brown hair, listening to him with a sad look on his face. He'd never realized. He'd say that Tai was even better than he was at hiding what was going on inside. Tai didn't let it make him into a cold, distant person. He was still energetic and optimistic. Matt admired him for that, but it also made him sad to think of everything Tai must've lived with. He looked around the dark cave for a moment. He knew someone would be getting up soon for the next shift, but he figured it was dark enough to hold Tai until he had to get up for his own shift without the others seeing.


	9. The Pyramid

It was Mimi's turn to take over shifts after Izzy and Tentomon. She was watching Palmon, who was sleeping soundly, laying over Gomamon's back, who was curled up under her. Mimi kept seeing Palmon winking at her before she splayed out to go to sleep. She knew what she was being told to do, but she didn't know if she had the courage to do it. But finally, she swallowed and turned over, shaking Joe's side carefully. "Joe?" she called quietly. "Joe?"

Joe shot up immediately. He looked around through blurry eyes and he fumbled for his glasses. "What? What, are we being attacked? I'm ready." He grabbed his holy device drunkenly and held it out. "G'mmmmmon... evolve. Ikkikimun go..."

Mimi smiled slightly, sitting up as well and putting her hand over Joe's, making him lower the Digivice. "We're not being attacked, silly," she said in a hushed, but still giggly voice. "I just..." She looked over at the sleeping Digimon. "I know you already did a shift, but um... well, Palmon was complaining about being really exhausted the whole way here, and I really think she could use a whole night's sleep," she said gently. "So... would you mind taking my shift with me instead?"

Joe stared at her- or rather squinted- blankly until he put on his glasses and saw who it was that was talking to him. "Oh! Oh, Mimi... You want me to take your shift with you?" Alone, just the two of us, under the night sky and all the stars?" He sighed inwardly. "Of course, Mimi, I'd be glad to," he replied with a gentlemanly smile.

Mimi brightened, moving her hands to clap them together excitedly, but deciding better of it when she remembered she was in an echoic cave full of sleeping kids and Digimon. "Great," she whispered instead, smiling and standing before leading the way outside.

Izzy looked up when the two of them came outside, frowning a bit but quickly hiding it. "What happened to Palmon?" he asked, a little tersely.

"She was tired, so I let her sleep," Mimi stated, oblivious to his tone. Izzy just nodded, waving for Tentomon to follow him as he trudged back into the cave.

Joe watched the boy go back into the cave and felt a pang of regret. He had picked up on Izzy's tone loud and clear, but... If Izzy liked Mimi then he should have moved in before it was too late. He removed his carrier bag and set it on the ground, and then his eyes turned skyward. "All the stars have moved," he observed.

Mimi sat next to him, hugging her knees to her chest. "I don't recognize any of the patterns in the sky," she said with a tiny frown. "Maybe I should study my astronomy better."

"Maybe..." he began with a slight smile, "Or maybe I could teach you." Joe leaned over, jaw hovering over Mimi's shoulder, and pointed up into the sky. "See those three right there in a row? That's Orion's belt. If you follow it up, you can see him holding his sword and shield."

Mimi tilted her head to the side a bit, pouting a little. "I don't see it," she said simply. "How can those be a sword and a shield? It's just a little cluster of stars."

"It's like playing connect the dots," Joe explained. "You kind of come out with a stick figure. Like this." He used his finger to draw in the sand, making a picture of a man holding a curved line in front of him and a straight line in the other hand. "Get it?"

"Ohh," Mimi said, putting her finger to her lips and nodding. "I think so, yeah." She looked back up at the sky, still pouting. "But are you sure that's him? Sora told me that she couldn't see any of the constellations when we spent that night at the lake." She giggled slightly. "Maybe it's his brother."

Joe nodded with a light chuckle. "His digital brother. Someone must have put an image of this constellation into a computer somewhere so that it would end up here. Also, Sora might not have seen him that night. You can't always see all the constellations at the same time."

"I guess that makes sense," Mimi said, turning to Joe and smiling. "You sure do know a lot of stuff, Joe."

The tall boy blushed. "All comes with the territory of being a nerd, I guess."

Mimi giggled one last time before they fell into silence, looking at the night sky. For a digital representation, it sure did look authentic to Mimi. They were quiet for quite a long time, before Mimi finally squeaked, "Okay! I have to say it!"

Joe jumped back at her little outburst, clutching his chest like his heart would pop out. "What? What is it? Are you okay?"

Mimi blinked over at him, not realizing she'd said that out loud. "No!" she finally settled to answer, brandishing one finger. "Because I need to... say something!" She stammered slightly, trying to buy herself time. Finally, she took a deep breath, and began speaking in that rapid fire way that only a girl like her could manage. "Okay, I know we really don't talk a lot at school and stuff, and I really really know I don't like, um, say... stuff, to you, I guess? And I totally don't do this usually, and it's kinda weird, and I'm sorry if it freaks you out or something but I- I really really really like you!" She face was as pink as her hat, and she only then realized she was still pointing at him, sitting on her hands embarrassedly.

Joe stared at her with wide eyes. His glasses had slipped down his nose and he looked at her over the top rims. Despite his poor vision, her bright blush was unmistakable. Joe was sure his face had gone pale at first, but given how hot his cheeks and ears were feeling, he knew he was blushing too. "Wow, Mimi... Uh..." Joe cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up. "I guess, all I can say is that... I really really really like you too." The boy smiled sheepishly. "I always felt like a dork. The upper classman having some pathetic crush on a lower classman. All my buddies in tech club talk about you. I'm pretty sure some have shrines dedicated to you, but... While I admired how pretty you were, I also really admired your bubbly personality. You can talk and get along so well with anyone, Mimi, it's a beautiful trait."

Mimi gasped slightly, putting her hands to her chest, before a wide smile came over her face. "Oh, Joe!" she squealed, grabbing his hands with her own and starting to bounce excitedly on her knees in the sand. "You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear you say that!"

He laughed nervously again. "And you have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that." Joe looked down at their hands. He only now realized he was one of the very few in their group who did not wear gloves, and he wished Mimi didn't either. "Mimi... May I kiss you? On the cheek?" Mimi actually looked thoughtful for a moment. She stopped bouncing and sat back on her heels. Then she smiled, closed her eyes, and put a tiny, nervous kiss on Joe's lips. Joe returned the kiss, though probably even more tiny and awkward than Mimi. Once the quick peck was over, he pulled back and smiled bashfully, face lit up all in red. Worst of all, in his opinion, was the nervous wheezing laugh that suddenly cracked out from his pre-teen throat.

Mimi just smiled, sitting back and putting her hands over her cheeks shyly. "I have Mrs. Mimi Kido written all over my notebook. Is that weird?" she said suddenly.

"Not as weird as me hoping our daughter doesn't have my bad eye sight," he answered through another wheezing laugh.

Mimi giggled nervously, before her attention was suddenly caught by the horizon. "Oh! The sun's rising!"

"Hm?" Joe looked to the top of the plateau across from them and in fact saw a sliver of white gold breaking the edge. He looked away just at the right moment, one not being blinded by the sun as it broke, and two, he had the chance to catch Mimi in the morning light. Joe was amazed at how her caramel brown hair caught the light from the sun and shimmered with tints of gold. Then the dawn kissed her cheeks to awaken the soft pink color always illuminating her curved cheek bones. Even her bright eyes danced with the morning sun as it greeted the world with its warmth. For the first time in his life, Joe wasn't nervous when he reached over to hold Mimi's hand.

Mimi gave him that usual smile of hers when he held her hand, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek before she stood, giving his hand one final squeeze before she said, "I have to go wake everyone up." She started to walk into the cave, only to look over her shoulder once and then break into a run, giggling, desperate to find Palmon and tell her what had happened.

Suddenly, Gomamon leapt out from behind a rock he'd hid behind several hours prior and leapt onto Joe's back, laughing loudly. "Congrats, Joe!"

Joe just groaned, once again feeling embarrassed to the fullest extent of his being. "Thanks, buddy..."

"I knew you could do it, Joe!" Gomamon said, his flippers wrapped around his boy's neck so he didn't go sliding off his back.

The boy smiled just a little. "Yay me."

When Mimi came by to shake his shoulder Tai found himself laying on the ground, but Matt was still close by. Tai wanted to apologize for the way he broke down last night, but then figured Matt would tell him not to worry about it. Everyone else came around eventually and a plan was made for rescuing the e-mail stranger. It was decided that Tai, Sora, Izzy, and Joe would all set out on the rescue mission. They said goodbye to their remaining companions and Tai made sure to brush his hand against Matt's before jumping from the sphinx's mouth. Matt smiled just a bit, and was glad that Mimi was making a commotion to cover it, yelling and waving to Joe like she was seeing him off to war. When she finally quieted down, Matt turned to her and his brother. "Looks like it's just us. Mimi?"

"Yes?" The girl asked, looking up from her excited whispering with her Digimon.

"Can you and Palmon see if you can find anything edible around here I can cook?"

"Oh, sure!" Mimi exclaimed, skipping off with Palmon to search around the area.

TK waited until Mimi was gone before pulling on his brother's pant leg. "Hey, Matt, can I ask you sumthin'?"

"What is it, TK?" Matt asked, looking down at him curiously.

"How come Tai was crying last night? Did he get hurt, or does he miss his mommy and daddy too?"

Matt bit his lip. Oh, so TK heard it... "He misses home just like the rest of us." It wasn't completely a lie, since it was probably true. He just dodged the question a little with the wording of his answer, that's all.

The child nodded. "You were really nice to give him a hug. I know hugs are kinda hard for you." TK thought for a minute before looking up at Matt again with bright eyes. "I have a doggy keychain my friend from school gave to me. I had it in my pocket. Do you think he would feel better if I gave it to him?"

Matt grinned slightly, patting the top of TK's hat fondly. "I think he'd like that, yeah."

"You know what, Matt? I can't figure out if you and Tai are friends or not."

"Hm?" Matt hummed, looking confused. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, 'cause sometimes you guys are nice to each other, but then sometimes you get mean and fight. My teacher at school says friends should never fight or else we could hurt each other and that's bad. You guys seem to hurt each other's feelings a lot too... Or at least say mean things."

Matt coughed slightly, shaking his head. "Uh, no, TK. Just because we fight doesn't mean we aren't friends." He leaned against the wall of the cave, saying, "You shouldn't fight with your friends, but me and Tai just argue a lot. That's just how we are."

TK pouted and looked down at his shoes. "Mommy and daddy argued a lot too. Now you and him live far away."

Matt frowned at that. "It's... not the same kind of arguing, TK. They fought. Me and Tai just... disagree a lot."

He scuffed his foot against the stone floor. "It just... sorta bothers me when you guys yell. What if you guys get really mad at each other? What if one of you hurts the other one really bad? I... I don't want us separating. I don't want you and me to go one way, while Tai and the other kids go the other way. We're all happy right now. Kind of like a family. I like that. I don't want it to break like mommy and me and you and daddy did."

Matt sighed quietly, tilting his head back. "I don't want that to happen either, TK," he said, looking out at the upside-down pyramid that was looming across the sand. "We won't hurt each other badly, I promise. We may fight, but we wouldn't hurt each other that badly that we would separate the group."

TK nodded. He was just about to speak when there came a loud explosion from outside causing the ground to rumble violently. "Matt, look!" shouted Gabumon, who pointed to a freshly blown hole in the sand. Given out the smoke rose up and out, it was obvious the explosion had come from underground. "They've begun to battle," the Digimon said. "Datamon must have been more trouble than our friends thought."

Matt instantly leapt to stand in the mouth of the sphinx, his blue eyes wide. "Oh man..." he gasped, looking down at his Digimon. "W-we have to do something!"

Gabumon shook his head. "You know we could never make it through without Izzy's guidance."

"B-but..." Matt started to protest, only to sigh forlornly. He knew that Gabumon was right. Without Izzy, they'd get instantly lost, and that wouldn't help anyone. He groaned, crossing his arms and leaning back with a worried frown on his face. "Get out of there safe, you guys..."

Sora was kneeling over Biyomon, who had been knocked out cold when Datamon broke free of his prison. She screamed when the techno junk Digimon suddenly grabbed her from behind. "Once I use their true power, your death will be guaranteed," he swore at Etemon before dragging the girl and her bird from the room.

All three boys ran after them, their Digimon guarding the way from Etemon and his goons. "Taichi!" Sora's voice was heard screaming before she and Datamon disappeared through the wall. Determined to rescue his friend, Tai ran full speed toward the electrified fence, only playing it by chance that he would pass through safely.

"Tai!" Izzy shouted, his hands full with his computer. He'd attempted to find a spot in the fence that wasn't coursing with electricity, but Tai, sure that he was only data and would get to simply try again if he guessed wrong, was already pelting towards it. Panicked, Izzy turned to Joe. "Stop him! He's going to get himself killed!"

"Y-Yeah!" Joe rushed forward and hooked his arms under Tai's. While the older boy was by no means stronger then Tai, he was taller, so he was able to lift the kid off the ground a bit.

"Hey!" Tai jerked around violently. "Let go of me! He's got Sora!"

"Tai, you might've died!" Izzy shouted, skidding forward to stand in front of him. "Just because we're in a digital world doesn't mean you can't get hurt! Everything here is linked to our world! If you died here, that's it! It's not a game where you can start over!"

Brown eyes widened as the arms holding him went limp. "What? N-No way..." Tai turned to look at the electrically charged fence. "I can die? But... Data can't be destroyed. It jus-just gets moved someplace else. Doesn't it? If we're not flesh and blood, how can I possible get killed here?"

"Because we're actually here, Tai!" Izzy said, lowering his voice. "We may be data, but we're not holograms. If you die here, you're really going to die. Regardless of what body you're in, flesh or data, they're linked. If one dies, so does the other."

Joe had released Tai now, but he kept close in case their fearless leader tried anything crazy again. "I could actually die here..."

Joe frowned sympathetically. "Taichi... It's okay. You're safe now and you just have to be a bit more careful in the future." When the brunet didn't respond, Joe just looked back at Izzy. "Did you find the pass?"

Izzy looked back at his laptop, and did a bit more typing before he said. "Yes. It's over there," he said, pointing to the opposite side of the fence than the side Tai was just about to run straight into. "We can pass through this spot safely," he murmured this as he walked in front of the fence to stand in front of the safe spot.

Tai took a step forward, like he was going to walk through, but he stopped. Where he was filled with reckless abandon just a few minutes before, the boy now stood on trembling legs and unable to move. "Why can't I...?" Tai tried to propel his body forward, but it was no use. 'Sora is in danger!' he yelled at himself. The boys wouldn't have a chance to chase after her at all, however, as the wall beside them came crashing in, their devolved Digimon lying in the rubble.

Etemon jumped up onto the top of the rubble, shouting, "Since it came to this point, I'll just kill you all myself! Uh-huh-huhn!" He started forward, when suddenly, Garurumon and Togemon busted through the ceiling, firing their attacks at the advancing enemy. The rest of the group had suddenly joined the other kids, leading them out.

Matt ran up next to Tai, who still hadn't moved. "C'mon Tai, he's distracted! Let's go!" Tai watched as Garurumon roared, thus producing the heated fire. The boy managed to flinch just slightly at the sight of the dancing blue flames. Despite Matt calling to him, Tai just stood there like some lifeless doll, hints of pained fear resting on his features. Matt just groaned, putting an arm over Tai's shoulder and wrapping another around his chest, he dragged the boy away before he could get hit by the flurry of attacks, looking over his shoulder to see a burning blue flame where they just stood. He shook his head and nearly carried Tai the rest of the way, until they were all at the cave once more, their Digimon fleeing the fight and following behind them soon after.

"So, Datamon has Sora and Biyomon now," Joe explained while rubbing the back of his head.

"Then we gotta go get her!" shouted TK. While the child was ready to fight for the girl, all the others just looked at him solemnly and shook their heads...

Because just a few feet away, Tai was on the ground, knees to his chest and fists on his knees, and crying heavily. "Damn it... Damn it... Damn it..." he sobbed angrily over and over again.  
Matt simply sat beside him, unsure of what he was supposed to do. He just watched, frowning worriedly. Izzy was typing away at his laptop, saying, "We need a plan before we attempt to rescue her."

"We don't even know where Datamon took her," Joe said. "We can't make a move until he makes a move."

"That's not good enough!" Tai suddenly shouted. He lifted his head and looked at everyone with wet, red eyes. "What if he hurts Sora while we're all sitting here doing nothing? I can't let her down like that!"

"Joe is correct," Izzy said. "We have no idea where she is. If we wandered around the pyramid, we'd just get attacked by Etemon and the Gazimon." He kept typing away at his laptop, and said, "But we're not doing nothing, Tai. I'm attempting to pinpoint his location now."

TK sat apart from the big kids with the Digimon. He heard the older children talking about Etemon and Datamon, and he knew the Digimon could hear as well. "All of you need to rest up so you can be strong if you have to fight," he told them while raising a finger. They nodded. Soon the child was curled up amongst the Digimon and they were all asleep. Four of the five present Chosen Children were gathered quietly around the fire.

"If only I had gone to save Sora the first time..." Tai mumbled to himself.

Suddenly Joe groaned in frustration. "Stop putting all the blame on yourself! None of us could help her."

"Even if you did go after her, Datamon would have been in there, and Agumon couldn't help! He was fighting Etemon!" Mimi pointed out, having heard the whole story from Joe, and seeing, just like everyone else, that there was really nothing they could have done. Matt was still quiet, just sitting next to Tai and watching him sadly.

"I know, but..." Tai sighed in an attempt to release his frustration. "She was calling out for me. Sora needed me the most right then, and I just froze."

Matt lifted his hand and opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly Izzy called, "Guys! I think I've cracked it! Come look at this!"

Tai was first on his feet and ran into the cave. Up on the screen he saw a pale colored diamond. One half displayed many of the passages they had gone through earlier today. The bottom half showed two more passages. One was a false corridor leading to a dead end, while the other lead to a giant red square. "Wait... So does this mean they're still inside the pyramid?"

"Yes," Izzy said, nodding. "They're in a secret chamber below the passages that Etemon probably doesn't even know about. If we can distract Etemon, we can have someone go down into the secret chamber and fight Datamon without having to deal with Etemon and his minions."

"Sora's in there..." Tai breathed as he stepped closer to the screen. She was so close. "Guys, I know it'll be dangerous, but I want to do whatever it takes to save Sora. That's why..." He turned to face them. "I'll be the one going in."

"Are you going to be ready to go through the safe patch in the electric fence, Tai?" Izzy asked seriously. "If we orchestrate a plan, it will be second by second. You can't hesitate at all."

Tai nodded determinedly. "I'll save Sora this time. I swear it."

"Well, then," Izzy said, looking out over the desert. He could see the shadowy forms of large Digimon working for Etemon moving around in the darkness. "I think I have an idea, but it will take a while to perfect. We pull it off in the morning."

Tai wanted nothing more than to rescue Sora in that moment, but he knew Izzy was right. To do this safely and as quickly as possible, they needed a plan. "All right. In the morning then." Tai cast one last look at the screen before going outside again. Wandering to a distance of about ten feet off or so, Tai stopped and turned his head up to look at the sky.

Joe wrapped his arm gently around Mimi's back and began to guide her toward the wall. "Here, Mimi, you look tired. Let's get some sleep."

Mimi nodded, grabbing Joe's other hand and sliding down the wall to sit next to him. "I am... and we're going to need to help out tomorrow, right?" she said, trying to sound positive.

Joe gave her a mixed smile. "Yeah, we are. Sora is going to need all of us to get out. As long as we do our part, she'll be okay."

Mimi smiled back. "That's good to hear..." she murmured, but it was broken by a yawn.

Joe carefully removed her giant pink hat and guided Mimi's head down to his lap where the carrier bag had been placed as a pillow. "Sweet dreams, Mimi."

Mimi giggled, wrapping her arms around his waist and closing her eyes. "G'night Joe."


	10. Vortex

Matt quietly stepped out of the cave mouth. The sun had since completely set, and the rest of their group was already asleep in the cave. A fire that Agumon had started was still burning outside the cave, though it was starting to flicker and grow dimmer as the night grew longer. The blond could see Tai's form hunched over next to the fire, and he cautiously walked over to his side and sat next to him in the sand.

Tai's shoes, gloves, goggles and head band were sitting in a neat little pile off to the side. Even his black arm band had been taken off. At some point that night Tai decided he felt too crowded in his own clothing. When Matt came to sit beside him, he didn't look up. Brown eyes remained transfixed on the dancing flames. For a long time neither of them said anything, but then, quietly, Tai's voice was heard. "Hey, Matt... You ever see those movies where the guy goes in to rescue the girl? Everything goes great until the bad guy comes in with a gun. The hero makes the girl run away, so she can be saved, while he stays to fight. Then the hero and the bad guy fight to the death."

"...Yeah," Matt answered after a quiet pause. "I have." He was silent, also looking at the fire rather than at Tai. He'd drawn his knees into his chest, arms wrapped around his legs.

"I won't let myself be scared," said Tai.

Matt swallowed, murmuring, "But what if..." His voice trailed off, and he found himself unable to get the rest of the words out. Tai took Matt's hand and stood, pulling the blond up with him. Tai led Matt away from the cave and closer to a set of sand dunes. Here they were out of ear shot as well as hidden by the sloping shadow. Their hands slipped apart when Tai put it on Matt's hip. The other came up to hold his neck steady. No utterance of words. Only brown eyes staring firmly into stormy blue. He watched those eyes as he drew closer, his own sliding shut, and then their lips met. Matt's eyes widened at first, but then closed as well as he pushed back into the kiss. Soon, his gloves had fallen into the sand and his bare hands grabbed the fabric on Tai's shoulders, pulling him closer desperately. He could feel a closing, fearful feeling in his throat, and it hurt terribly. He felt as if only the kiss could soothe that burning in his throat, that scared constriction of worry.

For the first time since they became boyfriends, Tai took the reins. Over and over again he had fallen apart and made Matt pick up the pieces. Not this time. Tai knew, he could feel, how scared and in pain Matt was. Tomorrow had to come and they had to do this. The plan couldn't be stopped any more than the rising of the sun. So they would hold on to the night instead. Tai would lasso the moon and keep it in the sky until Matt felt better. "Matt," he breathed after pulling away, but Tai didn't stray far, putting little kisses on the other boy's jaw and neck. "I'm probably being over dramatic, and maybe thinking beyond my age, but I want to be as close to you as I know how. I want us to go as far as we can, even if it's just one little baby step."

Matt's blue eyes were focused on the sky, his hands tightening, balling up in Tai's blue shirt. "O-okay," he breathed, only to look confusedly down at a mop of brown hair. "How do we do that?"

"Well..." Tai thought for a moment. "Um, sit down." He let go of Matt, but still held his hands as they lowered to the ground. Brown eyes stared shyly at the other boy before going down to focus on brown shoes. "Take your shirt off," he said as he started unlacing Matt's shoes.

"What?" Matt asked, looking surprised with the sudden command. His blue eyes watched Tai pull off his shoes with equal confusion. "W-why?"

"Because... Because I just want to try." When Tai looked at Matt again, his own eyes were filled with a mixture of nerves, embarrassment, and the tiniest bit of frustration. "Here, uh... I could pull yours off and you can pull mine off. Would that be easier?"

"Um, I guess so..." Matt said, hesitantly grabbing the hem of Tai's blue and yellow shirts at the same time. He lifted them up over Tai's head before he let the other boy pull off his green, sleeveless turtleneck.

Tai hunched his shoulders at first. His normally tan skin was turning dark like a cherry as he looked over the body sitting across from him. "You... You look like..." He paused, coughed, shook his and then continued. "I like the way you look, Matt."

Matt blushed slightly. Unlike Tai's tan skin that turned a dark red when he flushed with embarrassment, Matt's skin was a delicate, pale cream that turned a rose pink when blood rose in his cheeks. "You're... not bad yourself," he returned quietly.

"Thanks..." Tai began to inch forward. His gangly knees slipped under Matt's. Eventually, the brunet had the blond sitting between his legs in a kind of awkward open lap position. But Tai wasn't thinking about that as much as he concentrated on carefully putting his hands on Matt's back. After numerous cautionary seconds, their chests were pressed flushed together. Tai's chin came to rest on Matt's shoulder. Shortly after, he let out a puff of laughter. "You're freaking out," Tai said, having felt Matt's heart beating wildly against his chest.

"What was your first clue?" Matt asked sarcastically, though the tone sounded forced. There was a lump in his throat that came from that pounding in his chest. Eventually, he sighed shakily, leaning against Tai and curling his arms around his waist. "Y-yeah, I'm freaking out."

Tai gave a little nod. "Me too, but... I kinda like this. You know... Me and you. Together."

"I like it too," Matt said quickly, his chin on Tai's shoulder as Tai's was on his. "I've liked the idea for..." He swallowed the lump in his throat again. "A while."

Tai started stroking one of his hands up and down Matt's back slowly. "Did I take too long to suggest it?"

Matt laughed shakily, shivering a bit at the touch. "Couldn't have been too long, since I didn't... think I'd get it at all."

"Sorry." Tai turned his head just slightly so he could plant little kisses along Matt's neck and shoulder. He would nuzzle his nose up under the other boy's ear and breathe warmly into it. Eventually, the light touches lulled Matt into some kind of calm. The restricted feeling in his throat loosened up, and he finally breathed a contented sigh. Even if the worry and fear still lingered in the back of his mind, the moment had swept him into a temporary sanctuary of body heat and contact. Kisses trailed further and further up Matt's neck and jaw until their lips were pressed together again. Tai used a bit of tongue, but it wasn't quite what he wanted. Tai wanted to look at Matt and touch Matt and talk to Matt. So, he pulled away again and gently pushed Matt onto his back. Both of Tai's hands were placed on either side of Matt's head as he gazed down at the other boy. "Your eyes make me feel so anxious, you know?"

Matt shook his head slightly. "No... I don't know." His hands slid up Tai's neck, his fingers working themselves into the boy's brown hair. "Tell me."

Tai lifted one hand to tug playfully on one of the obscure bangs. "When I first look at you, you have bright hair like sunshine and your skin is kind of like a china plate. From a distance, you seem light and friendly like a sunny day, but then..." Tai stroked two fingers along Matt's cheek bone and came to rest at the corner of his eye. "I get up close and see your eyes. Your eyes aren't a clear blue, not like sky on a sunny day. Your eyes are like the sky when rain clouds roll in. There's always a storm going on in your eyes, Matt. Sometimes the storm is scary and I'm not sure I want to face it, but then... I also realize the facing the storm will be an adventure. So, I'm scared and excited at the same time." Tai smiled. "Anxious."

"O-oh," Matt breathed, his blush deepening. He managed a small smile, the kind that usually didn't grace his features. "I didn't know you were so poetic," he snickered.

The tan boy grinned. "Shut up," he said and gave Matt's face a playful shove.

Matt laughed, shoving Tai's shoulder back and grinning widely. "What?"

Tai just laughed and shook his head. Once again he took to touching Matt's face gently with his fingertips. A frown pulled at his features next. "Matt, I need to tell you something. You already know, but I have to say it out loud. Will you listen?"

Matt quieted his laughter, silencing himself before he nodded. "Yeah... 'course. What is it?"

Tai took a deep breath, never taking his eyes off of Matt's. "When I was little, my mom would hit me." Matt's stormy blue eyes softened slightly, filling with a sad sapphire. He just nodded, ready to be a listener. "Dad was gone a lot on business back then. I think it made her lonely and upset." The darker body lowered until it came to rest on the paler body. "I was really young the first time it happened. I was six. Since I was the only boy in the house, mom was expecting more responsibility from me. While she took care of the house, working, cooking... all that stuff, I was in charge of Kari. It was really easy and I liked doing it, but... then Kari got sick. She caught the flu." Tai turned his head so his cheek rested on Matt's chest. "She was feeling hot and dizzy, so I thought going outside on the balcony would help make her feel better. I was only going to let her be out there for a minute. It was cool out and there was a breeze. I thought she'd like it." Another deep breath. "Then mom caught us. She screamed at me for being so stupid and irresponsible. She said Kari could have gotten worse and even died if I wasn't careful. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she hit me."

Matt was quiet throughout the story, but when Tai was done, he wrapped his arms around the tan boy's shoulders and simply breathed, "...Ah." He never would have guessed that Tai had gone through that. Not happy-go-lucky, optimistic, courageous Tai.

"It went on for two years," Tai admitted. "I told everyone they were soccer injuries. Dad knew something was wrong, though, so he got an office job instead." He fell quiet. "I'm not mad at her, though."

"How?" Matt asked, rubbing Tai's shoulders. "I would have been."

"She was hurting, Matt. Mom was struggling with dad not being there and having to raise two kids by herself. She just... lost control. That's all." He sighed. "She and I have talked about it. Mom's apologized more times than I can count and I always forgive her. Besides, she was so much happier once dad came home. She didn't flip out anymore. These days she's really sweet and funny. My mom can't cook cereal in a bowl, but she's always trying. My mom is a really good mom. There's no point in being mad at her."

Matt looked up at the sky again, his eyes still swimming in that sad pool blue color. "I see," he said, the tips of his fingers still moving delicately across tanned shoulders. "That's... nice. That you can forgive her."

Tai nodded. "It's harder to forget. That's why I wanted us not to fight anymore. I can't trade punches with someone so close to my heart. Not again."

"Alright," Matt murmured, hugging the other boy tightly. "We won't fight again. We've done just fine without punching each other just to put on a farce... We..." He hiccupped slightly, the fear rising in him again. "After tomorrow, we'll just keep arguing. No punches. Once we... beat Etemon and all get out of his desert... just fine..."

"That's right. We'll always have our arguments." As he said this, Tai kissed Matt's chest. "I'll say something arrogant and you won't be able to resist calling me out on it." Another kiss. "Then when you start yelling, your ears will turn red and your nose will get that weird wrinkle in it, because that always happens when you yell." He grinned, placing yet another kiss on the moon colored skin. "Almost makes it impossible for me not to laugh."

"And then your lips will twitch at the corners because it'll be hard for you to keep frowning at me," Matt said, breathing inward sharply with every little kiss. "So you'll clench your fists to stop yourself from smiling."

"Just like I always do." Tai pushed up onto his elbows so he could hover over Matt while still being close. He loved how his lips felt against Matt's skin. Each time there was a warm tingle, but it only lasted for a second, so Tai had to plant another kiss to feel the tingle again. Tai kissed across Matt's chest and finally began moving down the center of the other boy's body, having found the shallow cleft that would lead him down. Matt's stomach was young and thin, but Tai would discover its suppleness by tenderly rubbing his nose there.

Matt gasped slightly, grabbing at Tai's shoulders, his blue eyes full of surprise. "Tai, um..." He stammered, raising his eyebrows. "Wh-what're you doing?"

The boy shook his head slightly. "I dunno... It felt good. Isn't it?" Tai bit his lip and looked away then. "Sorry, Matt."

"D-don't be sorry." Matt said quickly, cupping his hands around Tai's face and turning it back to face his own again. "It did feel good. I was just... surprised."

He let out another puff of laughter. "Yeah, I'm full of those."

Matt smiled wearily, before a yawn suddenly broke through his lips. He sighed, looking at the sand dune they were hiding behind. "I'm tired, but I don't want to go back." He murmured.

"Then we don't have to." Tai moved to the side, pulled Matt up against his body, and then rolled onto his back so the blond could be partially lying on top of him. "We'll sleep here tonight. You and I usually get up before the others do anyway. We'll be back before they know anything is wrong."

"Are you sure?" Matt asked, though he was already getting comfortable before Tai even gave him an answer. He was too comfortable, too warm, too contented to even consider moving.

"Yeah. This is what I want."

That quieted Matt, and he simply nodded, his hair brushing against Tai's chest as he settled there, laying on top of the tanner body, his blue eyes fluttering shut. "Night, Tai..."

He made sure to have the other boy wrapped securely in his arms before drifting off to sleep. "Night, Matt... You're special to me. Know that."

The next day passed by in a blur of a fast-paced plan being put into action. Every child did their part to distract the guard Digimon as Tai and Izzy snuck into the pyramid to save Sora. It seemed as if everything was perfect when the three of them emerged from the pyramid unharmed, and Etemon and all of his servants, including Datamon, all fell into the black pit below the secret chamber beneath the pyramid. But Etemon rose from the rubble of the destroyed pyramid, fused with the black wires that made up the dark pit. None of their Digimon could defeat him; not until Tai's crest began to glow, and Greymon finally Digivolved correctly. MetalGreymon had been a sight to behold. Even bigger than Greymon, covered in metal armor, and winged too. He'd managed to use his Giga Blaster to defeat Etemon, but at a price. A vortex opened when the dark network was destroyed, and the Digidestined could only watch as Etemon, MetalGreymon, and Tai all vanished in the vortex. Engulfed in a world of bright white, Tai was sure he was dead. This was the infamous bright light everyone talked about and some deity was going to be waiting for him on the other side. Only... he never met anyone. No grand, supernatural being, anyway. No, rather than being greeted by something that would judge his eternal soul, Tai found himself on stone path surrounded by pedestrians. Human pedestrians. But this wasn't the biggest shock. Not completely. Adding to his confusion and gawking was the little squeak he heard on the ground next to him. A little squeak that belonged to Koromon, who shared Tai's expression of complete shock. Back in the desert, Sora was staring at the open skyline and rolling dunes where the vortex once was. She couldn't believe that just happened. Surely is couldn't have. The girl kept waiting for the vortex to open and for Tai and MetalGreymon to jump out, proclaiming themselves heroes. But they didn't. "T-Taichi!" she screamed.

Everyone else also stared at the empty sky in shock. They waited for something, anything to happen. Some kind of indication of what had happened. Matt could feel the fear that had been sitting like lead in his chest suddenly start to burn. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't get the words out. Mimi started for him, saying, "Are they...?" No one finished when her voice trailed off.

Izzy eventually, however, murmured, "Probably."

While there was plenty of screaming and crying and panicking going on in her head, Sora remained externally silent. She suddenly felt very empty and she dropped to her knees, bright hazel eyes just staring at the sand. Joe looked around at all the other kids. While he was freaking out enough to swallow his inhaler, the boy did feel it was his job as the oldest to take some sort of control. "Okay... Okay... Okay..." He made a repetitive lowering motion with his hands. "I think we all need to sit down and just... breathe and... at least recognize what's happened. We don't have to accept anything yet, but... There's a reality here-" But Joe didn't get to finish. Suddenly, TK had plopped down on his bottom and started crying loudly; huge, wet tears rolling over his cheeks.

"TK!" Tokomon was instantly at TK's side, trying to comfort him. Everyone slowly sat down, most of them silent. Matt had sat next to his brother, staring at the empty patch of sky where it seemed like the vortex had vanished from an eternity ago. Slowly the kids all settled into the silence and their Digimon began to worry. Gomamon got Gabumon to help him find some wood scattered about in the sand that they collected and turned into a fire, since the sun went down without any of the kids wanting to leave the spot. In case Tai came back. In case the worst hadn't really happened. In the end, TK had cried himself to sleep and was clutching Tokomon like a life source. Everyone else worried themselves into slumber. Sora lay with her back turned to the others. Palmon lay along side Mimi while Tentomon stuck close to Izzy's head. Gabumon had even curled up like a little dog and was alseep at Matt's feet. Matt looked at Gabumon, and then around at the other kids. They were all already asleep, it seemed. He slowly stood up, and started to walk towards that still empty spot in the sky, which had now turned dark, holding no promises of Tai's return. He walked away from the kids, because he knew that if he didn't, they'd wake up and hear him doing something he always tried not to do, but he knew that this time, he couldn't stop. He fell onto his hands and knees when he was below that patch of sky his blue eyes had been watching for hours, and he felt salty tears start to roll over his cheeks, made stronger by the intense constriction in his throat and the burning ache in his heart.

Joe thought he was the only one left awake. While Matt was most likely the next best candidate, Joe couldn't shake the thought of being the next leader. That the responsibility would fall on him. Sure he was a 'fraidy cat, but he was sensible, not to mention older. Somehow that always happened. The big kid got put in charge even when he didn't want to be. The sound of shuffling broke Joe from his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder to see Matt walking stiffly to the place they'd all been watching not two hours before. Confused at first, Joe was quickly taken over by panic when Matt suddenly dropped to the ground. So the tall boy scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could and ran over to the blond. "Matt? Matt, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

"Oh god, Joe," Matt gasped, quickly scrubbing his eyes with the back of his glove to try and appear as if he wasn't crying. But he couldn't help it. The sobs broke past his lips and he was suddenly bawling into the glove he was using to dry his tears just a moment ago, his voice reduced to a choking, shaking noise of despair.

Joe flinched backward a little at the loud sob, his eyes going wide. "Oh... Oh... Okay. Um... It's okay..." Joe had never seen another boy cry like this and Matt was certainly the last he ever thought would come close. The teen had no clue what to do. "Don't... Don't do this, Matt," he said as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. "Just breathe. Pull yourself together. I know it's terrible that Tai is dead, but at least it was nothing gruesome. We can feel better knowing he didn't suffer or anything. Don't be like this. Calm down."

"Calm down?" Matt choked, pulling his head up to practically glare at the other boy through a film of tears, his eyes a bloodshot red. He grabbed the collar of Joe's shirt, on the verge of another sobbing break down. "How can you tell me to calm down! H-He's dead! He's..." His voice trailed off as he burst out in sobs again, shaking his head violently.

"Whoa..." Joe looked up at Matt, having fumbled back when grabbed. How upset Matt was, it wasn't just an 'Oh my god, I just saw a person die' reaction. This was something a lot deeper. This was like the wife who came home to find her husband murdered in their bedroom. "Matt, you... You need to talk about this. You can't let yourself be this upset. You might get hurt or become sick. Calm down. It's okay..."

"It's not okay!" Matt managed to spit out, "I love him, a-and now he's dead!" He shouted this, only for his sobbing to instantly cease. There was a pause where he processed what he'd just said, and Matt suddenly gasped, letting go of Joe's collar and slapping his hands over his mouth.

Joe blushed. He knew guys loved each other like that, but didn't think he'd witness it for himself. At least not so soon. But now was not the time to focus on that. Right now there was a kid in front of him who needed help. Better time than any to try those psychology books he'd been reading. Joe gripped Matt's shoulders firmly. "Matt, Matt, listen to me. You need to say it. You have to it out loud or it will just hurt worse on the inside."

"No," Matt said, shaking his head again. "I-I can't. I shouldn't. I shouldn't have said that... that, b-because..." His voice rose slightly, "B-because when Tai gets back, h-he's gonna be pissed I told you, even if it was a mistake... He..." He choked on another set of tears that he fought to keep back. "He wanted you guys to figure it out on your own time, h-he won't be happy I told you. I-I shouldn't say it again. H-he'll come back a-and we'll pretend to fight, like he said we would. A-a-and s-so I can't say it again."

"Matt, no, you can't do that." Joe sought to make eye contact with him. His own gaze was firm, but full of so much concern for the younger boy. This wasn't good. Matt needed to get under control. "Tai isn't coming back. Tai is gone now. You need to acknowledge the feelings you have for him. You know that Tai would want you to accept your feelings. If he loved you like you love him, you know he would want you to do what you had to move on. You cannot live in denial. Say how you feel. Tell him right now in the place where he last stood. He'll hear you."

"But he..." Matt started, only to stop himself. Denial was a tempting shadow to hide in, but he knew that Joe was right. He inhaled deeply, looking down at the sand. "I-I'm in love with Taichi Yagami." He said, tears leaking out of his sapphire blue eyes. "A-and now he's dead..." He couldn't take it. He buried his head in Joe's shirt and broke down once more.

Joe was taken aback again. He sat there with his arms out, hovering awkwardly over Matt's back. Eventually with a sigh and a gently approving nod, Joe placed his hands on Matt's back, rubbing in a comforting fashion. "That was good, Matt. That was good."

Matt cried until his throat and eyes hurt too much for him to continue. He was left breathing heavily, his hands balled up into shaking fists. "What am I supposed to do...?" He breathed, his voice hoarse. "It hurts... so... badly... I-I was so afraid I'd lose him... and I did..."

"We lost him too, Matt. We might not feel about Taichi the way you do, but we know that it hurts. You aren't all alone in this." Joe frowned. "At least you expected it. To be honest, I thought he was going to blaze through like a super hero. I never once thought he wouldn't make it."

"I guess I'm negative." Matt said quietly. "I don't know what I'm going to do now, though." He finally let go of Joe's shirt and sat up again, drying his eyes. They looked hollow, like he'd completely cried out his emotion.

Joe put his hands on Matt's shoulders. "We're going to do what we came here to do," he said firmly. "That hasn't changed. You know that."

Matt swallowed, nodding his head slowly. "I-I know."

"If for nothing else... Do it for him. Finish what he started."

"I... can do that." Matt said, breathing inwardly sharply, his fingers digging into the sand.

Joe nodded. "And we'll be here to help you."

Matt looked up at the blank sky, sighing quietly. "Thanks."

Tai was both relieved and confused to be home. Being back in a familiar place felt good, but he was shocked to find it was the exact same day he'd left for camp. Hadn't it been weeks since they were transported to the Digital World? He shared a peculiar converstation with his little sister who apparently knew more than he realized. Then there was a strange transmission from a stoic Izzy advising him not to return. Adding to the plate of total chaos was the fact that Tai could see actualy Digimon fading in and out of reality. One of the Digimon became a little too real at one point, forcing Tai and Agumon into battle. A vortex opened overhead and pulled the three of them in. Hikari held fast to her brother's hand, begging him not to go, but it seemed neither of them had a choice.

Tai and Agumon soon found themselves in the same place they'd been taken from in the desert, only his friends were nowhere to be found. Luckily, his Digivice served as a locater for the other children's devices. He followed a signal into the grasslands and over a bridge which lead to a lake by the forest. It was here they found the abandoned Tokomon in possession of TK's tag and crest. The little Digimon explained to them that they'd been gone for nearly two months, during which time the children had split up in search of Tai. Only the blond brothers had stayed together, but soon their bond was also broken when Matt left TK to search across the lake, only to not return after a week. It was then that DemiDevimon appeared and convinced poor TK that his older brother had abandoned him all together. Tokomon attacked the little devious bat, but was banished by TK for doing so. Now... here he was.

Tai sat on the ground, staring at the edge of the lake, stunned. Had he really been gone that long? How could the team have fallen apart so easily? What was he going to do now? "We... We have to get them all back," he said.

"That's easier said than done," Tokomon squeaked, padding up to the boy's side. "Everyone was really broken up, and we split apart a very long time ago. We have no idea where any of them are..." His ears drooped. "And even so, I can't go looking for them without TK, but he doesn't want anything to do with me."

"We just have to sit down and work everything out, that's all," said Tai. "I'm really worried about Matt. He wouldn't just leave his little brother behind like that, but TK will be easier to find. So lets go get him." Tokomon lead them to the amusement park where DemiDevimon had taken the child. Tai was relieved to see him sitting alone at a table. "Takeru!"

Blue eyes looked up and big smile spread across his face. TK jumped up and ran to Tai. "You're alive! You're alive!"

"Of course I am. I don't die that easily. Now, let's go find the others."

TK frowned and turned his back. "No!"

"What?"

"Everybody left me. Even my own big brother. Well... If they don't want me around, then I don't want them around either!"

Tai offered a smile. "TK, there's no way your brother would hate you. Trust me."

"But..." Little tears fell over TK's cheeks. "When you and I get along, Matt gets a nasty look on his face. He hates me because I kept talking about you. So..." TK looked down and then ran up to cling to Tai. "You be my big brother instead!"

"Uhm... TK, it doesn't exactly work like that..."

That's when DemiDevimon showed up. Although Tai and Agumon pressed him to tell the truth, he insisted that Matt had abandoned TK because he was too much of a crybaby. He offered them a mushroom dinner to show that he'd turned over a new leaf, but Agumon swore a voice in his head told him that the mushrooms would make them lose their memories. Outraged, TK finally made up with Tokomon, who Digivolved and defeated DemiDevimon. With that, TK, Patamon, Tai, and Agumon made their way around the lake to find the rest of their team. Following the Digivice, their search finally brought them to a restaurant where they noticed Gabumon and Gomamon working as waiters. Heading into the kitchen, they finally discovered Joe. "What're you doing here?" Agumon asked, without giving the boy time to speak.

"Eh? Tai, you're alive!" Joe cried.

"Yeah, but what's going on?"

"I..." he looked away. "I seem to have gotten us into a mess with the owner of the restaurant. I have to work until I pay off everything I've ruined."

TK tilted his head. "Us? You mean my brother is here too?" Then he noticed the open door. "Matt!" He ran outside and found his brother lying in the grass. TK ran over and flopped onto Matt's chest. "Matt! Matt, I found you!"

"TK!" Matt shot up, his blue eyes wide. He put his hand on the boy's back. "Oh man, are you okay?" He asked, a guilty look coming over his face. "I'm so sorry I couldn't keep my promise and come get you..."

TK nodded with a smile. "It's okay. At least we're together again. Tai helped me get across the lake so we could look for you!"

"Well, I'm glad you- Did you say Tai?" Matt asked, looking at his brother with a mix of confusion and sadness. "TK..."

"Don't be sad," the child said while patting his brother's cheek.

"Yeah," came Tai's voice from the doorway to the kitchen. "You don't wanna start crying and look like a sissy in front of your little brother, do you?"

Matt's head whipped around, completely shock and disbelief on his face. "Tai!" He gasped. He staggered to his feet, quietly saying, "Y-You're alive..."

Tai laughed. "Of course I am! You think I'm going to let you out live me? Fat chance." Though his demeanor was joking, Tai looked at the other boy with soft eyes that seemed to say, 'It's all right. I'm really here. Everything is okay now. You aren't alone anymore.'

Matt just let out a shuttering sigh, grinning gently. He walked over to Tai, hesitantly reaching out to touch his arm, like he was afraid he'd just be hallucinating. But when his fingers touched Tai's arm, his stormy eyes lit up. "Right, of course not. Silly me."

"Right." Tai put his hand on Matt's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "Well, this makes four down with three to go. I say we high tail it out of this place and find the others."

Joe crept carefully into view, looking cautiously at Matt and then at Tai. "You mean run? I don't know..."

Matt scoffed when Joe approached. "No. I'm not going anywhere with Joe." He said coldly, crossing his arms and turning away from the other kids.

Tai looked baffled. Joe looked deeply hurt. "Matt, how can you say that?" the brunet asked in disbelief. "Joe is our friend. He has to come with us! Friends stick together!"

"Well if he goes with you, I'm staying here!" Matt snapped. "He's the one who's been trying to keep me here cooking for the rest of my life! He doesn't want to work together, he only cares about himself." He suddenly spun around, his eyes dry, but his voice cracking with the tears he refused to let flow. "And you're not one to talk! You had to play the hero and the whole team fell apart! We thought you were dead!"

"Matt..." Tai stepped forward carefully. "Matt, you know that's not how it happened. I didn't mean to leave everyone behind. I wouldn't do that if I could help it. Everthing just... happened, but I'm here now. Let's get the team back together. We can fix this."

Matt's shoulders shook slightly, and he just averted his eyes, looking down at his brother. "C'mon TK, let's go."

"You weren't thinking of leaving, were you?" Digitamamon's ghastly voice suddenly broke into the conversation as the egg-like Digimon suddenly rounded the corner of the restaurant.

"Yeah!" DemiDevimon piped up, laughter lacing his voice as he landed in a branch of a nearby tree. "That's not such a bright idea!"

TK gasped. "Hey! That's DemiDevimon! He's the one who told me you hated me, Matt! He said you hated me and never wanted to see me again!"

Joe stood there, feeling betrayed. "When you said there were other humans around. You... You lied to me!"

"What?" Matt gasped, spinning around to gape at the little bat Digimon. "Then... you lied to me, too!" Suddenly his hands had balled into fists.

"Never mind that." Digitamamon hissed. "You better get back to work, and quick, before I get angry."

"No way!" Matt shouted, rage building in his chest.

"Fine. Then if you want to leave, you have to go through me!"

Matt turned to Gabumon at that. "Ready?"

Gabumon nodded. "Of course!" He Digivolved into Garurumon just as Digitamamon was launching himself at Matt, successfully knocking the egg away. "Howling Blaster!"

But the blue flame didn't make a single blemish on the hard shell. "You can't touch me!" Digitamamon laughed and knocked Garurumon to the ground.

"Matt! Help me!" TK suddenly cried as a Veggiemon dangled him by the ankle over the roof ledge.

"If you keep up this struggle, I can't guatantee this boy will live," the vegetable Digimon cackled.

"TK!" Matt gasped, turning for help, only to notice that Patamon, Tai, and Agumon had run off in pursuit of DemiDevimon. Only Joe and Gomamon were left. The blond was torn, watching Garurumon get beaten to a pulp by Digitamamon, but unable to tell him to attack with TK in danger. "Put him down!"

"That's not fair!" Joe shouted. Gomamon tapped into his Joe's sense of determination and Digivolved into Ikkakumon, before blasting a Harpoon Torpedo at Veggiemon.

"Hey! You want this kid to die!" he hissed. But Veggiemon didn't see Joe crawling across the roof, so he didn't expect it when the boy leapt over and grabbed him.

TK fell to the ground, but the drop was much less than it would have been and he was able to land safely. When he opened his eyes, he saw Joe being squeezed to death in Veggiemon's vines. "Joe! Oh no!"

Matt was immediately over at TK's side, but his eyes were on Joe. He gasped, watching the other boy gasp for breath as the unforgiving Digimon steadily tightened his grip. Finally, Matt screamed, and his crest began to glow. Garurumon Digivolved into WereGarurumon, and he was able to defeat Digitamamon and drive Veggiemon away, releasing Joe before he suffocated. Matt ran over to him, helping him up. "A-are you okay?" He asked, trying to banish his panicked tone as he was joined by both Gomamon and Tsunomon to check on Joe.

Joe nodded stiffly. "Um... Yeah. I'm okay."

Tai joined them as well, since DemiDevimon had run away. "That sure was brave of you, Joe!"

The older boy smiled. "T-Thanks, Tai, but it was nothing."

Matt offered his hand to help Joe up. Once the other boy was standing, he looked down at the ground, clearing his throat before murmuring, "Sorry about what I said before, Joe."

He looked at Matt, almost confusedly, but then he just smiled and laughed. "Nah, forget about it."

Matt grinned, glad that it was so simple to erase his stupid accusation. "Alright." He said, turning to Tai and clenching his fist determinedly. "Let's go find the others."

Tai nodded. "Yeah. If we follow our Digivices, we can find them in no time." The boys set off. Along the way, Tai explained how the happenings in the digital world were have severe affects on the real world. "Just one more thing we have to fix," he said. When they came to a fork in the road, both Tai and Matt's Digivices began beeping. Tai took his off his belt and looked at the screen. "Mine says we should go to the right."

"Mine says left," Matt murmured, looking at the other boys. "Looks like the only way to find them all is to split up."

"What?" TK whined. "But we all just found each other!"

Tai looked over at Matt sadly. He wanted nothing more than to be with the blond, especially since he'd been gone for two months, apparently. He wasn't sure they could survive being separated again. "I don't think we have much of a choice," Tai said, despite his feelings. "Our Digivices will lead us back to each other. We'll meet at the base of that mountain over there, okay?"

"Right." Matt said, swallowing his desire to protest. "We have to split up, if only to find everyone else. We'll be back together before we know it." He patted TK's head assuredly, before looking at Tai with disappointed, but determined eyes. "I guess, since our Digivices are the ones picking up the signal, TK and I will go this way and you can Joe can go that way. We'll see you guys later."

Tai nodded. "Right... See you later." To keep himself from doing anything foolish, Tai set forward and didn't look back. Matt just sighed quietly, looking at his brother and leading his small party onwards in the opposite direction.


	11. Love

It was a few days before the group finally came back together again. Matt, TK, and Izzy found Tai, Joe, and Mimi just as they were hitting shore in a swan boat at the base of the mountain. "Guys!" Izzy called, waving his hand wildly as the rest of the group slid down the slope they were standing atop of to meet them.

Tai turned and saw Matt with others. He ran to meet the blond. Unable to help himself, Tai hugged Matt while laughing and smiling. He just made sure to keep it brief. When he pulled back, he looked around the group and then frowned. "Huh? Where's Sora? I thought she would have met up with you guys."

Matt was blushing, but coughed and shook his head. "No, we didn't see her. We thought you guys would've met up with her."

He frowned. "Where could she have possibly gone? Not even our Digivices are picking up her signal."

"I thought I saw her, actually," Mimi suddenly piped up. "At the Geckomon's castle! But I might've been... dreaming..."

"When I was Agumon, I think I heard her too! She told me that we shouldn't eat those mushrooms!" Koromon chimed in, bouncing at Tai's feet.

"I see..."

"But if she's been following us the whole time, why isn't she here now?" asked TK sadly.

"Maybe she doesn't want to come out and tell us she's here," Matt said simply. "Or... maybe she can't." Suddenly, his Digivice started to beep, and he looked down at it. "Looks like we've got a lead. Let's try and find her, if she won't come to us."

The group searched for hours until the sun started to set. They thought about setting up camp when Flymon attacked. Koromon and Tsunomon Digivolved to protect the kids, but their efforts weren't enough. Just as Flymon was about to impale Tai to a tree, Birdramon flew in from over the trees and used her Meteor Wing to incinerate the insect Digimon. Tai knew immediately that Sora was nearby, so he called out her name and ran off. Sora heard them calling after her, getting closer, so she ran across the river. Just when she thought she had gotten away, Tai burst out from the bushes in front of her. "Sora!" The girl gasped and tried running back the other way.

"Why are you trying to run away?" Matt was standing in her path on the other side, TK and all of their Digimon close behind. Joe, Mimi, and Izzy were no where to be seen, helping Joe, who'd fallen into the river, so it was just the three boys who stood to stop her.

"Do you hate us?" TK asked sadly.

She shook her head. "No.. That's not it. It's just..."

"Just what?" Matt pressed, watching the amber-haired girl with a frown on his face.

"That night when Biyomon and I went looking for Tai I heard voices in the woods. DemiDevimon was talking to someone. Talking about our crests. They all mean something." Sora looked at their leader. "Tai, you have the Crest of Courage." Then she looked at the brothers. "Matt, yours is Friendship and TK's is Hope. Izzy has Knowledge, Joe has Reliability, and Mimi has Sincerity. But I..." Her eyes looked down at the ground. "I only have the Crest of Love."

Tai smiled at her. "Love fits you so perfectly, Sora."

"No it doesn't!" she screamed.

Matt flinched at the girl's sudden shouting, putting his hand over where his tag was stashed inside his shirt. "Friendship..." he murmured, frowning. He looked at Tai, confusion setting over his features. He managed to look back at Sora and murmur, "Why would you say that?"

"Because it has nothing to do with me!"

Tai stepped forward. "But, Sora, you are loving. You're always helping the others and-"

"I don't care!" she screamed again. "I don't love anybody! Love is stupid! Why should I even try? You'll never love me, Taichi, so why should I bother loving anyone else?" Tai froze in his spot. His stomach felt like a sunken brick. He stared at her with wide eyes and a sad turning down of his lips. "That's right!" she said venomously. "I saw you... With him!" she spat and pointed straight at Matt.

Matt jumped backwards slightly, putting his hands up defensively, like he was expecting Sora to try and deck him. "Uh..." he started, his face heating up red. "Wh-what? When?"

"You two were always sneaking off together! No one else may have noticed, but I did! Two months ago in the desert, I followed you behind the dunes. I had to know for myself what was going on." Sora's face turned red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "I saw you molesting each other half-naked! You bastards!"

Matt put a hand over his mouth, blushing furiously. He had no idea Sora had been watching. "U-uh..." he stammered, cautiously moving his fingers so he could speak. "Can we not... discuss this in front of my little brother?"

"Why not? He'll find out eventually. Everyone will! I'll tell them!"

Tai stepped forward again. "Sora... don't, please..."

"Why are you getting so pissed at us! We didn't do it to hurt you!" Matt was suddenly shouting back at her, unable to keep his composure any longer.

"Because now my crest won't glow!" Sora screamed and threw her tag in his face.

Matt gasped, fumbling to catch the tag in his hands. "We made it... unable to glow?" he said, looking down at the dull pink crest inside the tag.

Sora scrubbed the tears from her eyes. "I loved Taichi. I really did. You took him from me, though... Both of you broke my heart, so now... Now my crest will never glow."

"That can't be..." Matt said, cautiously walking towards the girl. He wasn't very good at comforting talks, and the best he could conjure up was, "Look, Sora... i-it wouldn't have worked out anyway."

"No!" Sora shook her head. "That's not true! If I just had more time, he could have loved me too!"

"Sora..." The blond came up to her and hesitantly wiped her cheeks dry with the back of his glove. "C'mon, don't cry. Look... we don't like girls. It's not your fault and we didn't do it to spite you. And besides..." He shrugged, offering a pained looking smile. "He does love you. Just... not like that. As a friend."

Sora smacked his hand away. She didn't want to hear this. Finally just breaking down and crying, Sora fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands. TK still stood off a ways, looking confused as ever. Tai watched Sora as his heart broke in two. The brick in his stomach turned to lead and weighed him down even more. When Tai tried to walk forward, he only ended up moving back. "Sora... I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I swear."

Matt just sighed, stepping away and standing next to Tai. "I did my best... just let her get it out, Tai. She won't listen to us until she does."

Tai ran his hand through his hair. "Matt, why do I feel like I did something wrong?"

"We didn't," Matt said firmly. "You just don't want to see her hurting..."

"Maybe if I had had picked up on her signals... I could have tried harder..."

"To do what?" Matt asked, sounding exasperated. "What could you possibly have done?"

"Done what she wanted," Tai whispered, gripping his brown hair.

Matt frowned, his shoulders sagging slightly. "Do you really think you could have done that? And... would you have wanted to?"

"I..." Tai clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. "I don't know... Maybe." He swallowed. "At least then I would be..."

"...Right." Matt murmured, looking at the ground. "I guess you'd be happier like that."

"That's not what I meant."

"No, I understand," Matt said quietly.

"But I would never go back," Tai said, looking at his boyfriend. "I'm too happy with the choice I made. The right choice. Even..." He glanced sadly back at Sora. "Even if it did come at a price."

Matt just nodded silently. It was then that the rest of their group came running down the dirt pathway to meet them. "Guys! Sorry for the wait!" Izzy called, skidding to a stop at the scene they met.

"What's going on?" Mimi gasped when she saw that Sora was crying.

TK finally spoke after being silent since the scene began. "Sora's crying because Tai loves my brother and not her," he explained. "But..." He turned to look at the others. "Tai loves all of us. We're his friends. Why would Sora think he doesn't love her?"

Joe blushed. "Oh... Well..."

"That's a good point, TK!" Matt said quickly, casting a critical look at Joe.

"Sora..." Biyomon said quietly, hopping up next to her and putting her hand on the girl's back. "Sora, please don't cry. TK's right!"

"Sora." She felt another little tap her shoulder, so she looked up. "Thank you, for earlier." TK said. "You were the one who told us not to eat the bad mushrooms, right?"

"Well... I knew DemiDevimon was up to no good. I had to stop him. And when Joe and Matt were working at the restaurant... And when Mimi had locked everyone in prison. I knew you all needed my help then. What else could I do?"

"But don't you see, Sora?" Tai said. "If that's not love, I don't know what is."

"Sora just needed to be alone for a while," Biyomon said quietly. "But she didn't want to be away from you guys... she really cares." The bird Digimon smiled at Sora, the curl on her head twitching. "Isn't that right?"

The girl nodded. "Mn... Yes."

TK continued to grin innocently. "Well, I don't like it when my family gets separated. So don't go away anymore, okay? When you're around, I don't miss my mom as much!"

Sora wiped her eyes and nodded, feeling touched by the child's words. "Yeah. Okay."

Matt smiled slightly at his brother, thankful for the resolution. "C'mon, I bet everyone's tired. We're finally all together again, so let's find somewhere to camp."

"Let's go, Sora." TK took her hand and lead her along with the others.

Just as it was getting dark, they managed to find a good place to sleep near the edge of the woods. The open plain was ahead of them for travel in the morning while the forest was there for protection. Once everyone was asleep, Tai got up, under the guise of needing to go to the bathroom. He was gone for awhile. Suddenly, a pair of hands reached through the bushes and grabbed Matt from behind, pulling him through the foliage to the other side. It was here that Tai finally had him alone. White gloves had been discarded again so that bare hands cupped either side of Matt's face and their lips met softly yet passionately. Matt made a surprised noise, but quickly quieted down and pushed up into the kiss, his own gloves falling to the ground and his hands sliding up into Tai's brown hair. After a moment, he pulled back, saying quietly, "It's been way too long."

Tai brushed his nose against Matt's cheek. "I'm sorry it had to be so long."

"Where were you?" Matt asked, leaning into the touch, grateful for the contact he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever. "We all thought you were dead..."

"I thought I was too for a second." Tai trailed kisses along Matt's neck. "I ended up back home; right in the middle of Tokyo... And it was the exact same day as when we left. For me, it was only a few hours. I couldn't have imagined you went months without me."

Matt blinked surprisedly. "T-Tokyo? You went home?" He asked, sounding awed. "And... it was the same day we left... So..." He bit his lip slightly. "All the time we've spent here... it's only been a little while in reality. That's... so weird."

"Pretty much." When he reached Matt's shoulder, Tai trailed the kisses back up, all the way to his jaw. "I must have called your house twenty times. I kept hoping that maybe you all had gone through the vortex too. I thought, 'How great would it be if we were all finally home?' Of course... No one else was."

That got Matt thinking about the day Tai was swept up in that vortex, and a guilty look suddenly came over his face. "Hey, Tai?" he asked, pulling himself closer to the other boy.

Tai wrapped one arm around Matt's back while the other held gently against his blond hair. "What is it?" he asked, tucking the boy up under his chin.

"I sort of... told Joe. By mistake," Matt said quietly, looking down at his hands, his fingers drumming nervously against Tai's back when his arms wrapped around him.

Tai was silent at first, thinking it over. But in the end he just smiled. "That's okay. Joe would never tell anyone. I'm sure you were upset. Really, I'm just glad you had someone you could talk to. Joe's a nice guy." Tai then kissed the top of Matt's head.

Matt sighed thankfully, pushing his head up slightly, his blond hair brushing under Tai's chin, so he could kiss at the other boy's neck. "And I'm glad you're alive. So glad..." he murmured, his fingers tightening on the back of his boyfriend's shirt.

Tai snickered. "Yeah, me too." His hand slid up under the green shirt so that his palm could rest flat against the small of Matt's back. Tai sighed. Even if it had only been a few days for him, it seemed like forever since he'd felt that smooth skin. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"No, it... it's not your fault. I was out of line yelling at you about it earlier." Matt said, shaking his head.

"It's okay. Really."

Matt sighed contentedly, nestling his head against Tai's shoulder. He felt so much safer and happier now that Tai was back, and he was in his arms again. They were quiet for a long while, just leaning against each other, content. Matt's blue eyes had slid shut, and he whispered, "Taichi, I... I love you."

His heart skipped a beat. Tai almost wasn't sure he heard that right, but it couldn't have been a mistake. The boy smiled, turning his head down to nuzzle his nose against Matt's cheek again and give it a kiss. "I love you too, Yamato. And I'll keep loving you. Even if I do get taunted off the soccer team. You're more important than that."

"Thank you," Matt said quietly. He wasn't sure if he could really know what love was, and he was sure someone would tell them that they couldn't be in love yet. But he was sure that this is what this feeling had to be. Matt pulled himself up again to lock Tai into another kiss, pulling slightly on the collar of his shirt. They could feel for each other enough in their young hearts and be allowed to love each other the only way they knew how. It may not have been the love adults share, but it was their own adolescent love, and they were happy that way. Tai wrapped his arms around Matt's lower back and pulled him up a little more into the kiss. He ran his tongue over pale lips, carefully asking for permission. It was all still so experimental and one boy never did anything the other didn't approve of. Everything they did was cautious and uncertain, but Matt didn't care. Even with all of the hesitation in the world, being with Tai still made him feel great. His lips parted, allowing Tai's tongue inside, gently suckling on it as he pushed up closer into the kiss.

Tai tilted his head slightly to the left so their faces would fit together better. He even made sure to keep pressing their lips together while his tongue moved around inside Matt's mouth. One hand slipped under the green shirt to rest on the small of Matt's back, as it usually did. After a few minutes of curious making out, Tai drew back. He licked his lips and his brown eyes clearly conveyed his nervousness. "Hey, Matt, do you... ever... e-ever... touch yourself?"

Matt looked surprised by the question, and he blushed madly, looking down at the ground. "You know I do, Tai," he grumbled quietly, only to look up with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Y-Yeah, I know... I'm just nervous, okay?" Tai took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Have you ever seen another guy do it? Or like... done it with somebody, like on yourself, but at the same time?"

Matt's face screwed up with confusion. "What? No." He immediately bit his tongue, however, seeing how nervous Tai was. His face softened, and he shook his head. "No, I haven't..."

"Oh..." Tai withdrew his hands from Matt's body and laid them on the ground. "Yeah... me neither. I mean, why would I? Th-That would be weird, right?" He tried to laugh. "It'd be a queer thing to do..."

Matt frowned when Tai's hands left his back, and he lifted his own bare hand and put it on the other boy's thigh. "Do you want to?"

Brown eyes looked anywhere except at Matt. "Well, I dunno. I mean... I guess it's not that uncommon. One of my mom's books talks about it. They call it, uh... mutual m-mast-turbation..." Tai's face was getting redder by the second. "Like twenty-six percent of all guys have done it by the time they're fourteen. It... It doesn't have to mean anything. Y'know, if we weren't ready to have the other guy touch us, it's an option. I dunno. Maybe it's still a weird thing to do." He even started to shake a little. "I probably shouldn't have said anything. It was st-stupid..."

"No, it's not stupid..." Matt murmured, looking thoughtful despite the deep blush on his face. "H-Hell, I can see where that's coming from. It... could be nice..."

Tai nodded. "Doing it would let us... y'know... feel good together, but there's like, no pressure, right? We just do it ourselves, comfortable, together. Right? W-We could do that."

"Right," Matt said, nodding his head as well. They sat there awkwardly for a moment, neither of them sure how to proceed. Finally, Matt took a deep breath and undid his light blue belt, putting it to the side. Tai decided to follow Matt's example. He had no belt of his own, so he went straight to unzipping his shorts. Slowly he pulled the flaps apart so he could get his hand in easier. Tai waited, though, until he and Matt were at the same place. Matt unzipped his jeans, looking up at the other boy and laughing nervously. "Haven't done this since you caught me last time."

The brunet gave an awkward laugh of his own. "I've never made it to the end before."

"Really?" Matt asked, finding that talking distracted him enough that his hands didn't shake as badly. "How do you deal with it?" He pulled his jeans down just slightly, since they were too tight for just moving the flaps.

"Well, most of the time someone came knocking on the door and scared me enough that it just... went away, I guess. Sometimes I would get too tired. Other times..." Tai blushed, even up to his ears. "I ended up having to pee instead."

Matt laughed awkwardly. "I guess that's the advantage to no one being home most of the time." He hooked his thumbs into his briefs and pulled them down just enough to draw himself out. "R-Ready?"

Tai glanced down. Matt didn't seem much bigger than himself. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, Tai figured he wouldn't have cared either way. Taking another deep breath, his slipped his own blue briefs down to let himself out. He took his length in one hand and then sought to hold Matt's free hand with the other. "Do you mind?" he asked, voice clearly trembling.

"N-no, that's okay," Matt said, squeezing his boyfriend's hand. He was still for a moment, before his hand started to move, slowly at first. He bent over slightly and gave a tiny groan, one of his legs bending a bit.

"Wow..." Tai got caught up in looking at Matt and forgot about himself for a moment. Hearing that groan, however, sent his blood south and brought his attention back to the matter at hand. Ha... at hand. Tai began at the same steady pace, but he picked up speed a little sooner than the blond. He was inexperienced, as it were, and Tai sometimes rushed and stumbled through it.

On the other hand, Matt was more experienced, though that wasn't saying much. Even so, he still had trouble keeping himself quiet. They were right next to the campsite, after all. It wasn't like when he was at home and no one was around to hear. "Nhn... hn..." He bit his bottom lip to try and stifle himself as his hand moved faster, his arms tensing up and his legs still bending and twitching like he wanted to close them and stop the feeling, but didn't have the ability to.

"Ah..." Tai panted softly, still trying to find his rhythm. Suddenly, Tai wished Matt didn't have to see how incompetent he was with his own body part. Hearing Matt struggle with his moans inspired Tai to help his boyfriend, so he pulled the blond down and locked him in another kiss. It was at this point that Tai found the pace he wanted. Seems he just needed the right feeling to guide him along, and Matt's lips were the best feeling in the world.

"Mn..." Lost in a heated daze, Matt completely forgot about testing for permission. His tongue was promptly shoved into Tai's mouth, and he pressed into the kiss, grateful for it as his voice got louder, but their connected mouths successfully muffled the grunts and groans Matt had so much trouble containing. Feeling Matt's moans echo into his own mouth and vibrate down his throat made Tai feel strangely alive. He knew Matt was thinking of him too, and that instilled a feeling in Tai that he just couldn't name. Suddenly he stroked a nerve and his own moan came forth. The sound started deep in his chest and rumbled out past his lips. Now the boy was pumping harder and faster. Maybe this time he would really make it, and it would happen with his boyfriend. The feeling of Tai's moan against Matt's lips was just too great. The blond pulled back slightly, having to fight again to quiet himself, gasps replacing moans as he breathily whispered, "T-Taichi, I-I'm almost..."

"I... I'm n-not there yet," he breathed back. This wasn't a race, Tai knew that, but he felt inadequate to be falling behind his boyfriend. So the boy grabbed harder, thinking it would help. "C'mon... Come on..." Matt's blue eyes slid open slightly, his judgement hazy and thoughts running fast through his head. Was he breaking some kind of rule if he helped? His own ministrations slowed, and he hesitantly reached forward with his other hand, just barely touching with the tips of his fingers. Tai gasped. Was Matt really...? He was! Both their hands were on him. Matt wanted to help. Tai almost couldn't believe it. He didn't think the blond was ready to go there yet, but he was. Matt was willing to touch him. Even down there. Tai's heart raced and his blood heated until suddenly he had to bite his lip to contain the furious cry trying to escape him. Everything happened so fast. The boy wasn't even sure he'd really done it, but the wet sticky sensation all over his fingers indicated otherwise. "Matt... Oh, wow, Matt..."

Matt moaned, finding both of his hands soon covered in white. He breathed heavily, gasping in deep breaths. His blue eyes cast down, then up at Tai's face, taking in the shocked and pleasured expression. "Was... was that alright?" He asked shakily.

Tai smiled a crooked, nervous, happy smile. "That was better than alright. That was great."

Matt smiled weakly when he saw the other boy's smile. "G-good." He stammered, only then realizing his hands hadn't moved and letting go. He went to pull his pants back up, only to remember the sticky mess on both of his hands. "Uh..." He lifted them in front of his face, frowning.

Tai looked at the mess as well. Tai's brain set to work again, trying to decide how to help. His mom's book had been quite vivid, putting it all out there so mothers knew what was going on. He was surprised she had given it to him to read as well, but it seems that it was going to pay off. "Don't... Don't say anything, okay?" Tai took hold of one of Matt's wrists, drew it closer, and then brought two of the fingers into his mouth. At first his face scrunched up a little. It was salty and gooey, but that didn't stop him. Matt's mouth fell open with shock. What was Tai doing? Were you supposed to do that? He listened to his boyfriend and said nothing, just watched in quiet surprise and fascination. Slowly, Tai licked Matt's fingers clean. His tongue came up between the two fingers, curling back and sucking. Next he did the other two, and then the thumb. He paused after the first hand, swallowing awkwardly and rubbing his tongue over his teeth. The longer the taste lingered, the more he liked it. But still only a little bit. Tai then took Matt's other hand and drew the index finger into his mouth, closing his lips around the digit, curling his tongue, drawing the finger in and out. Yeah... Tai was starting to like it more now.

Matt bit his lip, quieting a tiny gasp, his knees turning inwards slightly. He'd just finished, but of course, now Tai was putting on quite a show. He knew he shouldn't say anything, but he had to. "T-Tai..." He gasped, grinning sheepishly as his blush grew once more. "You're uh..."

Tai pulled Matt's finger from his mouth. "Not helping, huh?" he asked, sounding dejected.

"No, not really." Matt responded, giving a nervous chuckle. "But it's not... that bad... Er, well... it's p-pretty awesome, actually."

"Too awesome?" he asked, glancing down between the blond's legs.

"Just a little too awesome." Matt breathed, his knees rubbing together shyly.

Tai smiled slightly. "I'll stop then. You can probably wipe the rest off." Matt nodded, pulling back his hands and wiping them off on the sides of his jeans. He inspected them for stains, but it didn't seem too noticeable. With a contented sigh, he pulled his briefs and pants back into place, zippering them up and feeling around for his belt. Tai fumbled with his own underwear and shorts. Once everything was back in the place, he let out a long sigh and fell back into the grass. "Oh man... I'm so tired now."

Matt nodded, sliding his belt back into place. "I know what you mean." As he said it, a yawn broke through his lips.

"Is it always like this? To be this tired?"

"A lot of the time... especially when it's late at night." Matt murmured, crawling over to where Tai was laying in the grass. "Not all the time, but... usually."

Tai yawned. "Well, it was a pretty wild ride." He slung his arm around Matt when the kid laid down with him.

"Mhm," Matt agreed with a quiet hum and a content smile. He looked very tired and out of it, and quietly murmured, "Much better than fantasizing about it."

"Wait..." Tai got caught in another yawn. Sleep was getting harder to fight. "You mean you've... thought about... about us doing this?" But even if Matt had an answer, Tai wouldn't hear it as he passed out once the last word left his lips.

Matt blushed madly, whipping his head around. "I-I didn't mean-!" He stopped himself, however, when he realized Tai had trailed off and fallen asleep. The blond let out a shaky sigh, putting his head down and staring up at the sky. He thanked his lucky stars Tai wasn't used to this and fell asleep.


	12. Home

"Biyomon! Biyomon!" Sora's screaming resonated through the campsite. She was on her knees cradling the pink bird's body in her arms, a large dart discarded off to the side. "Biyomon, hang on! Stay with me!"

"It's DemiDevimon!" TK screamed, and at that, Matt instantly jerked awake.

The blond sat up, his blue eyes looking around, bewildered. But, still in the bushes, hidden from the campsite, he couldn't see anything. He leaned over, shaking Tai's shoulder. "Wake up, Tai! I think we're being attacked!"

Tai shot up, also looking lost and flustered. "Wha... Wait, what?" He looked around and clumsily climbed out of the bushes. Having half expected the other kids to be staring at him curiously, they were all looking at the sky like turkeys instead. So Tai looked up as well to see a dark cloud moving toward the moon. Pitch black consumed the sky and the air around them for a brief second before the cloud moved on. Then, flying down from where the cloud had been, was some kind of dragon-horse Digimon pulling a carriage. "Wh-What is that thing?!"

"Whatever it is, it's coming right for us!" Mimi screamed. Matt stumbled out of the bushes after Tai, gasping as the rest of the kids did when the carriage swooped overhead, dropping what looked like a coffin. The coffin flew apart in mid-air, revealing something wrapped up in a cloak.

The figure landed right below the blood-red moon. Sora gasped. "That's him! That's the guy DemiDevimon was talking to before!"

"Don't you call him by such rude terms!" the little bat Digimon hissed as flew over to the cloaked figure. "This is Lord Myotismon!"

Tai glared, clenching his teeth. "Myotismon?"

"That's Lord Myotismon to you!"

Evil laughter rung loudly from the cloaked figure. "Digidestined! Your journey ends here! Grisly Wing!" He threw his hands up, the cloak flying open, and a cloud of bats with red glowing eyes suddenly shot forward, engulfing the group of children. Agumon was the first to run forward and take a shot at the bats, but for every bat that went down in flames, another flew past him.

Gabumon ran forward to join his friend. "Blue Blaster!" he barked as the blue fire spit from his throat. Motimon jumped and evolved into Tentomon and used his Super Shocker against the bats as well. Patamon flew forward, blowing Boom Bubble after Boom Bubble. The little demon bats fell one by one, but three replaced every one that fell.

"They just keep coming!" Joe cried. A group of the bats broke through, barreling at Mimi, but Joe jumped in front of Mimi to protect her.

That's when Palmon jumped into action, Digivolving into Togemon. "Get down!" she shouted. As all the other Digimon hit the dirt, she ran forward and spun like a top. "Needle Spray!" The fury of needles pierced the bats and cleared a path right to Myotismon.

The other Digimon leapt to their feet and ran towards Myotismon, but he just sneered. "Crimson Lightning!" Long, blood red whips emerged from his hands and knocked each Digimon down.

"I have to help them..." Biyomon suddenly murmured from Sora's arms, though her voice was quiet and she sounded dizzy from whatever the dart had injected into her. "I'm the only one left, I have to fight..."

"What? You can't," Sora said, clutching Biyomon to her chest.

Tai stood with the others, staring fearfully at Myotismon. "No way... He's so strong."

"You hear that? You couldn't stand up to him. Especially with your wound."

"But I have to!" Biyomon protested, starting to struggle against Sora's grip. "Let me fight, Sora!"

"No!" Sora clung even tighter to her Digimon. "No, you can't go! I won't let you!"

"Sora, please!" Biyomon screamed, her struggle getting stronger. "Why can't you understand!?"

Tears fell from the girl's eyes. "Because I love you, Biyomon! I love you and can't bear to see you get hurt! I want to protect you!"

Biyomon suddenly stopped, turning around in Sora's arms. "Look!" She pointed at the girl's crest, which had suddenly begun to glow a vibrant pink.

"What?" Sora looked down. "My crest... is glowing? But how? Why?"

Tai ran over, fists clenched in determination. This might just be what they need. "Don't you see, Sora? You love Biyomon! You love her so much that your crest is reacting to your heart. Biyomon can Digivolve to Ultimate now. Use your love to give her strength!"

Sora drew the tag and crest out from under her collar. She stared at it in bewilderment before smiling. "I do. I do love Biyomon."

"Alright!" Biyomon was then able to Digivolve twice. First, to Birdramon. Second, she grew even larger, twice the size of her Champion form, and her wings became arms as new wings grew from her back. A helmet found a place on her head and long blonde hair grew out from under it. "Garudamon!" she announced, before flying into battle.

"That's Biyomon's Ultimate form!?" Izzy shouted, his eyes widening.

"She's so tall!" Patamon gasped from TK's arms.

Sora stood staring and gaping at her newly evolved Digimon. She really helped Biyomon grow into that? "You're so cool," she squeaked.

The giant bird Digimon looked over her shoulder, chuckling in a voice that was much deeper than it ever had been. "You think this is cool? Watch this." She crossed her arms over her chest, and then shouted, "Wing Blade!" She opened her arms, and a plume of flames in the shape of a bird leapt forth from her hands. Myotismon shot a Grisly Wing to combat it, but Garudamon's attack won out easily.

"Why did the Crest of Love have to glow just when I was about to claim victory?! You won't be so lucky next time!" the demonic Digimon spat, wrapping himself back up into his cloak before vanishing.

"She did it!" Mimi gasped, as Garudamon knelt down in front of the group, offering her hands.

"Climb on."

"Quick, before he recovers!" Tai said, ushering the others onto the offered perch. Once they were all on, they flew off into the sky, quickly climbing high, away from the campsite.

Sora turned over so she could smile at her Digimon. "Thank you, Garudamon. You were really great back there. I'm glad I could help you Digivolve. And... thank you for helping me realize that I can love somebody."

"I should be the one thanking you, Sora. If it weren't for your love, we could have been done for." Garudamon responded, nodding her head.

Matt nodded as well, looking over at the girl. "Yeah. Thanks. You saved all of us."

Sora smiled and blushed. "It was nothing, but..." Her eyes looked from Tai to Matt and back again. "I want to apologize for all those things I said before."

"It's okay." Matt said simply, scratching at the back of his head and looking over at Tai. "Right?"

Tai nodded. "Of course. We know you were just upset. Being the last one couldn't have been easy. We're all stronger now, though. We'll work together and help each other to fight this Myotismon. Right guys? We're gonna take him down! Just like we did Devimon and Etemon!"

"Right!" the children cried, pumping their fists into the air.

"Was that what they were talking about?" Agumon asked Patamon, who lifted his paws in a sort of shrug.

"I dunno, but they all seem happy now." Garudamon flew until the sun came up, when she finally had no more strength and landed near a river on the other side of the mountain range the children had been preparing to hike. When she placed all of the children and other Digimon down on the ground, she shrunk all the way back into Yokomon.

So, just when we started to think our adventure was going to be easier, we were proven wrong. Myotismon showed up and proved to be a lot stronger than we could have anticipated. Isn't that always the way it goes, though? The bosses in video games aren't all the same strength. They get stronger on every level, which means you have to get stronger. At least in video games you can hit restart when you know you're losing. Here... not so much. We were getting ready to set off again when Gennai showed up. The old man said he had good news and bad news. The good news was that an eighth child was going to help us to achieve victory. Apparently, the absence of the eighth kid was causing the digital world to go out of whack, along with the real world. The bad news was that the old man didn't know the kid's name and that Myotismon knew about the eighth kid already too. Myotismon was even building a gate and an army to invade Japan and kill the eighth child. So now we have to stop him, get to Japan, find this kid, and then get back to the digital world. Heh. Walk in the park.

Getting into Myotismon's castle was not easy. Agumon and Palmon had to invade and find us all a way in, and even then, we all got lost in an illusion where up was down, we were stuck walking on the ceilings, and nearly every path lead us in circles. Finally, we managed to find the chamber where that creep had opened up a gate to the real world, but Gatomon, a fast cat-like Digimon, stopped us before we could follow him by bringing all of the statues to life to fight our Digimon. The doors to the real world closed right in our faces. We had no idea what to do until Gennai invited us over to his house, saying that he knew how to reopen the gate. I honestly think this guy is off his rocker, but we had no other choice.

We had to follow a giant spot light to Gennai's house. It lead us to a lake. A lake! We're not fish! I can't tell you how frustrated we were, but that was before the water split in half to reveal a staircase. We ended up at this old fashioned house with a koi pond, bath house, rock garden and everything. The old man was on a small bridge waiting for us. Even more frustrating was that he wouldn't answer any of our questions. Inside his house Gennai showed us a map that Matt and I thought looked a lot like Hikarigaoka. When we asked how to open the gate, the old man just gave us this random set of cards. A random set of cards he didn't even know how to use! I thought this old man was supposed to help us!

We were left to blindly go back to the castle with these cards that we still had no idea what to do with. And of course, once we got rid of the Devidramon that were guarding the gate, the whole place started to fall apart. On top of that, a Dokugumon who seemed to know the last one we faced started to attack us while we tried to figure out the way to use the cards! It was Izzy who realized that we could arrange the cards on a stone tablet in front of the gate. He explained that the three columns represented the three types of Digimon, Vaccine, Data, and Virus, and that for each one we had a card for a Rookie, a Champion, and an Ultimate, represented by stars in rows. The only problem was that after he got everything into the right slots, we still had one card too many. And it was up to Tai to pick if the Gomamon or Agumon card was the fake one that would send us to some other world besides our own.

Yeah, and there wasn't even anything fancy about my decision. You know what I did? I slapped them both face down and picked one. It was Gomamon. Luckily I was right. The gate opened with this huge flash. We all grabbed our Digimon and jumped through. Matt made it at the last second. I'll have to harp on him for that later. When we woke up, we were at the campgrounds. We were even at the same shrine where we were pulled into the digital world in the first place! At first our Digimon weren't around and I thought I might have picked the wrong card, but they turned up a few seconds later, in their In-Training forms, carrying berry bushes. We'll have to teach them the beauty of Japanese cuisine. Since we were all together, it was time to go to Hikarigoaka. That's where we would find the eighth kid. Myotismon was already there causing electrical problems. Idiot sure does a good job of giving himself away.

Trying to keep our Digimon quiet to convince everyone they were stuffed animals was a nightmare. They can't keep their mouths shut for five minutes. Mr. Fujiyama, our teacher, bought our story that we had just found them, but would everyone else be so stupid as to see that there were no seams on them? Apparently so. We got them onto the bus and even walked through town to Highton View Terrace without anyone suspecting a thing. Once we got there, everyone started to share memories of the place, and we realized that we had all lived there at some point. And when we did, Mammothmon showed up. This giant, wooly elephant Digimon started to wreck the place, and Birdramon was ready to fight him.

As the Digimon fought, we all started to remember something that happened when we were little. The news had called it a terrorist bombing. We all remembered it differently. The explosions, the bridge, the wreckage, it was all so familiar, but not the Digimon. I knew it! I had known it all along! I grabbed Matt's arm, holding tight. "You see?" I said to him. "I told you I had deja vu in the digital world! This is it! This is what I remember!"

"I just remember mom getting mad at TK for saying he saw monsters fighting," Matt said, scratching at the back of his head. "I don't quite remember..."

"I do!" Mimi said, gasping loudly. "There was a huge fight, and a fireball exploded the bridge! But... the flying monster wasn't the one that could breathe fire. It was the other way around."

"It was Greymon!" I told them. "Greymon and some big parrot Digimon! I remember! We must have all seen it! That's what brought us together. We all saw the Digimon fight!" Suddenly Mammothmon used an ice attack on Birdramon. Sora went to her aid, though, using her crest to help Birdramon evolve into Garudamon. It was touch and go for a while, but I kept remembering more and more. "A Koromon showed up at my house. It Digivolved into an Agumon, a really big Agumon! He got out of the apartment. Kari and I chased him until that other Digimon showed up. Then he Digivolved into Greymon! I thought it had been a dream, but it wasn't!"

"And that's how Kari knew who I was!" Koromon suddenly piped up from Tai's arms. "Even though it must have been some other Koromon..."

"My parents moved away after the entire street was destroyed that night," Izzy said as he watched Garudamon grapple with the giant mammoth Digimon. "We'd only lived there six months, too."

I was still confused. Everyone seemed to remember this, but I still wasn't sure. There was some sort of vague memory of standing out on the terrace with TK and watching explosions with binoculars, but was it really a Digimon fight? "TK, do you remember this?"

"Yeah! There were these big huge monsters fighting in the middle of the street! It was like Godzilla and Rodan having a big epic battle!" TK seemed really excited about the whole thing while the rest of us were freaking out.

Tai put his hand on my shoulder, seeing how confused I was. "Don't you remember any of it?"

"Just a bit..." I said, frowning and stuffing my hands in my pockets. "TK was really little back then. I wonder why he remembers it better than I do..." It was then that Garudamon finally defeated Mammothmon, and shrunk back into Yokomon, falling into Sora's arms. And when she did, we could all suddenly hear the wail of cop cars approaching. "Damn! Let's go!" I shouted, leading us all off the half destroyed foot bridge and across the street, towards the nearby park that we could hide in.

In the park we all had a long discussion about the fight from four years ago. We all remembered it to some degree or another. I remembered it the most, since I had followed the Agumon with my little sister. She and I had had front row seats to the fight. Izzy and I decided that was the common factor in the seven of us being Chosen Children. Witnessing the fight must have linked us to the digital world somehow. Following the patters, we also decided the eighth child was no longer in Hikarigaoka, but had probably moved to Odaiba like the rest of us. That was where we would look. We were sure Vamdemon had his goons out searching the city street by street, so we had to get a move on it.

We only had just enough money for the subway between all of us. Izzy figured out that we had to jump at least three trains to get to Odaiba. We made it to our two transfers with no problem, though Yokomon almost gave us away by screaming at a baby for pulling on her stem. Luckily, Sora was able to play it off as ventriloquism. On our last train, we had to get off at Nakano-sakaue, but... we all fell asleep and missed our stop. To make matters worse, most of us got separated in the crowded end of the line station.

Well, actually, it wasn't most of us. More like Joe and Izzy. I thought they were supposed to be the smart kids? Oh well. They eventually found us at a fast food joint. Joe was so angry at us for spending our subway fare on food. He was about to chew us out when his stomach made him spend his own money too. Of course that left us with the dilemma of getting to Odaiba for free. Naturally, I had a fool-proof plan. Hitch hiking! Only it turned out to be a bad idea. I nearly got run over! Joe and Izzy tried, after mocking my efforts, and they only got honked at. Matt tried next and well... Heh... Heheheheh... I'll let him tell you what happened.

Y'know, it was funny to watch Tai, Joe, and Izzy flail around in an attempts to get a ride. What was not funny was being forced to take my stab at it. I have never felt more embarrassed in my life than when I raised my thumb and not three seconds passed before some woman in a fancy sports car pulled up and tried to seduce me into going with her. I trudged back over to the other kids, my face bright red, and I could practically see the smugness radiating off of Tai as I rejoined the group on the sidewalk. "Not... a... word..."

I grinned from ear to ear. Oh, it was priceless. "But you're such a fine looking boy. How could anyone ignore you?" I snickered. "Maybe if you stick your leg out, you'll bag a even richer one with a bigger car for all of us to fit in."

"I am not whoring myself out for a ride to Odaiba!" I shouted.

Mimi started to giggle, obviously finding this just as funny as Tai did. "No matter how likely it is that it'd work?" she asked, her and Tai sharing a laugh over it. I could feel my head sinking down between my shoulders as I turned my back on them with a loud huff. When Mimi finally quieted down, she said, "Well, since Matt won't do it, I think it's time for a woman's touch."

Mimi and Sora ended up making signs that read 'Take us to Odaiba'. We knew it would work. Men loved helpless girls, as awful as that sounded. Our Digimon didn't quite get the concept, but they didn't need to. Sure enough some guy picked us up. He was some high school kid who bleached his hair and sprayed on his tan. According to him, us guys were extra baggage that shouldn't talk. He even gave the girls candy which I thought was weird. Overall, the dude was royally pissing me off, but Sora convinced be to behave. He was our ride after all. While listening to the radio, we heard a broadcast about a bombing in the Nerima district near the housing in Hikarigaoka. Basically the whole place was out of service. The report even went on to say that a giant elephant and bird were responsible for the attack. I glanced over at Matt. Surely no one was going to take that report seriously, right?

I just gave Tai a worried look. Hopefully no one would believe it. Well, at least no one as thick as our driver, who started to bellow and laugh about the crazies in town. We were stuck with terrible music blasting our ears out for quite a while until Tai suddenly shouted for us to pull over. Koromon had made a mess of the jerk's seats. Sora tried to take the blame, but our infuriated driver tried to take it out on Joe. Izzy tried to step in, only to get pushed over the edge of the bridge we were pulled over on and nearly fall into the water. He would have, too, if it weren't for Motimon Digivolving to Tentomon and grabbing him just in time. Of course, that wasn't enough to help the kid when a huge tentacle suddenly emerged from the river below. A huge crowd assembled as Gomamon leapt into the water this time to fight the giant white squid Digimon who rose out of the water, whom Tentomon told us was called Gesomon. Gomamon, now Ikkakumon, started to fight the thing, but all I could think about was all of the people who were watching. I heard most of them wondering aloud if there was a movie being shot, and I just hoped that's what they all thought. How were we ever going to explain this if someone traced Ikkakumon back to us?

Gesomon went down and we all managed to jump off the opposite side of the bridge while everyone stared at the water. We landed on Ikkakumon's back whom Joe guided to Odaiba. We should have done this sooner. Once in Odaiba, we all decided to go our seperate ways for the evening. We would go home, get some sleep, and regroup later. As I walked home with Koromon, I started to wonder if my sister might be the eighth child. Kari recognized Koromon when I came home that one time and she had been right there with me during the battle four years ago. The more I thought about this... The more I didn't like the idea. I'm not so sure I want my little sister in a place like the digital world. If anything ever happened to her... I don't know what I would do.

Matt had never felt happier to walk into the cluttered apartment he shared with his father. Books and files were piled high all over the place from his dad's work, just leaving enough of a walkway for him to get from one room to another. He'd insisted on walking TK home, so he had spent the night at his mother's, though his mom wasn't home. He left early enough in the morning that his mother didn't even know he had spent the night on the floor in TK's room. She'd be surprised enough to see her youngest son back home in the morning, anyway. The blond walked into his empty apartment, using the key that was under the mat outside, and sighed at the emptiness of the apartment. Home sweet home indeed. He put Tsunomon down to let him take a look around, but he couldn't even bring himself to sprawl out on the bed or the couch. His eye immediately wandered to the phone. Normally, the loner of a boy never even had a use for the thing. But now he had the strange itch to call someone and invite himself over to get away from the silence of the apartment, save for Tsunomon's excited scratching about. Tsunomon noticed how his boy was looking at the phone. He could tell Matt was willing it to ring, but the little Digimon knew that wouldn't happen. "So call him already!" the orange furball insisted as he scurried over to Matt's feet. "He's your friend! He won't say no. You have no one else to be with. Don't slum around all by yourself, Matt. Call him! Call him!"

Matt looked down at Tsunomon with a surprised expression, but he swallowed his pride and smiled sheepishly. "Right..." He walked over to the phone, picking up the receiver in one hand and immediately twisting his finger up in the cord. He dialed the number that he knew, but once would have never dared call, and bit his lip as it started to ring, looking nervously down at the Digimon at his feet.

Tsunomon wiggled, his fur fluffing excitedly. "Hello, Yagami residence. This is Hikari. Who may I ask is calling?" The girl had learned the line well from her parents. You could almost see her staring up at the ceiling and swaying forward and back as she recited the words.

"Uh, it's Matt. Yamato Ishida," Matt said oddly, leaning back on his heels. "Is Tai there?"

"Uh-huh. Hold on a second. Tai!" she called, her voice suddenly becoming very loud through the receiver. "Matt's on the phone for you!"

"Quiet down, will ya? Sheesh. I'm right here," the boy could be heard saying. "Go play with your dolls or something."

"Have fun talking to your booooyfrieeeend," Kari said before running off.

Tai sighed and put the phone to his ear. "Hey, Matt? That you?"

"Uh, yeah. It's me," Matt said, blushing slightly as he listened to the girl's giggles gradually get quieter on the other end of the line. "It's... lively over there, huh?"

"Don't mind Kari. She's just giving me a hard time because I won't let her talk to Koromon. Mom and dad are home and I can't let them hear him. She also just got over her cold, so she's got some energy to burn. What's up?"

Why did it suddenly become so hard to say what he wanted to say over the phone? If it weren't for the fuzzy forehead butting at his ankle, Matt might've gotten too flustered and just hung the phone up. "I was wondering if you were doing anything today... since everyone's spending the day settling back in."

"No, I didn't have anything planned. Why? Isn't your dad home? I figured you want to spend some time with him."

"...He's not home," Matt said after a moment. "It's just me and Tsunomon."

"Well come over here then!" Tai wasted no time inviting his boyfriend over. He hated to think of Matt in that apartment all by himself. "My mom is making sandwiches. Dad went to the store and bought a big fat watermelon and ice cream! It'll be great."

Matt smiled weakly, nodding. "Alright, awesome. I'll... be over in a bit, then. See you." He actually managed a slightly bigger grin when he hung up the phone and picked up his Digimon, heading over to the door and slipping his boots back on. "We're going over to Tai's house, Tsnomon. You need to pretend to be a doll again until I can put you in Tai's room with Koromon, okay?"

Tsunomon continued to wiggle excitedly again. "I'm so proud of you, Matt!"

"Huh?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow as he reached for the doorknob. "Why? For what?"

"For doing something for you! You sacrifice yourself a lot, Matt. While that did earn you the Crest of Friendship, there needs to be a balance. You do so much for the other kids, sometimes you just need to do something for you! You didn't want to be alone today, and while you were hesitant to disturb any of your friends, you called anyway! You're meeting your own needs, Matt. I'm proud of your for that. I like seeing you happy."

Matt laughed quietly, nodding. "Yeah, I guess I did do that..." he said, opening the door. "I don't think it's a good thing that I'm being selfish, but if you're proud of me, Tsunomon, that's good enough." He locked the apartment door behind him, stashed the key in his pocket, and made his way out of the apartment building.

Tai was sitting on the couch watching a soccer game when he heard the knock at his door. He jumped up, shouting that he would get it, and threw open the front door. "Hey, Matt! Come on in. Kari is helping mom put the finishing touches on lunch." Brown eyes landed on Tsunomon. "Oh, you wanna put your toy in with mine? Yeah. Kari loved the one I got her. I bet TK is gonna flip when he sees this one."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll throw it in your room," Matt said, smirking slightly as he took off his shoes and slid quickly through the family room into Tai's room. Koromon at once started hopping excitedly on the bed, and Matt had to hush him as he put Tsnomon next to him. Kari came up behind her brother, pulling on his sleeve and just smiling.

"Yes, Tsunomon is one too, but you can't go telling dad and mom, okay? It has to be a secret. Remember what I said? I'll take you to the amusement park if you don't say anything."

"Alright, Tai," the girl said simply as Matt emerged, closing Tai's bedroom door behind him.

When Matt came back out into the family room, Tai's mother poked her head out from the kitchen. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked.

"Oh, right." Tai laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Mom, dad, this is Yamato. I met him at camp."

Mrs. Yagami came out with a smile on her face and reached out to shake the boy's hand, except hers was covered in peanut butter and jelly. "It's so nice to meet you. I'm glad you could join us."

Matt looked at the woman's hand and shook it, despite the fact that their lunch was all over it. "Yes, nice to meet you too, Mrs. Yagami." Tai's father, who was sitting on the couch, just needed a wave. The blond waved and bowed a little, and then looked at his hand. Tai glanced over at Matt and stuck his tongue out, wiggling it around in memory of another time he'd cleaned Matt's hand. Matt blushed, turning his head and cleaning off his hand himself.

Kari just giggled, grabbing them both by their wrists. "C'mon guys! Sandwiches!" she said cheerily, dragging them both over to the dining room table.

Tai pulled a chair over so Matt could sit next to him. There was a glass of lemonade and a big slice of watermelon for everyone. In the center of the table was a big platter plate piled with cut sandwiches. In the tradition of Yuuko's experimental cooking, the sandwiches had indeed been made with peanut butter and jelly, but also with banana and cucumber slices. Everything was mixed, too. Peanut butter and banana. Cucumbers and jelly. Peanut butter and jelly and cucumbers. Jelly and banana. And so on and so forth. Tai cracked a smile at the look on Matt's face. It was too funny. "Dig in!" the boy said and grabbed a few cuts for his friend.

Matt gave an odd look to one of the cucumber and jelly sandwiches that had been put on his plate, but politely started to eat it anyway. He wiped jelly from his mouth, grinning slightly at Tai. "Thanks for letting me come over."

"Why wouldn't I?" Tai asked while stuffing his face with a peanut butter and banana sandwich. "We're friends and I've got nothing better to do. It's summer time, dude. Hanging out is what friends do during the summer. Besides, we needed someone to help us eat all of my mom's fantastic cooking."

Yuuko smiled. "Ohh, thank you, Tai! And how about you, Yamato? Do you like your sandwiches?"

Matt nodded, even as he put the cucumber and jelly sandwich down in favor of the more normal peanut butter and jelly. "Yes, they're very good. Thank you," he said.

She nodded. "Well, there's plenty more where that came from. Susumu even picked up some Neopolitan ice cream for dessert. I hope you like that kind. I can always send Tai out to the store if you want something else, though."

Tai rolled his eyes. "Moooom, Matt's fine."

Matt laughed nervously, waving his hands. "No, no, it's okay Mrs. Yagami. That sounds great." He didn't really seem used to the family environment. From eating lunch with Tai's family, to playing video games with him and his sister while their parents watched, to just watching TV while they ate ice cream, Matt acted like he was new to it. But it was pretty obvious that he enjoyed every second of it.

Tai could sense the unfamiliarity in Matt, and it made him a little sad. Sometimes his family drove him crazy, but he couldn't imagine being without them. So while Matt was over, Tai made sure he had the best time he could. But that didn't mean letting him win at video games. Tai even insisted that Matt play his harmonica for the family. Susumu was thouroughly impressed and applauded the loudest. Before anyone knew it, the time was nearly 6:00 in the evening. "Oh my goodness!" Yuuko exclaimed. "I need to get started on dinner! Yamato, will you be joining us?"

"My dad still doesn't get home for a few more hours, so that'd be nice," Matt said from where he sat on the couch next to Tai. He looked at what was left of his ice cream, and then sent a glance over at Tai. "Should we go check on them?" he asked in a whisper.

It took the boy a minute to realize what Matt was talking about. He got so caught up in being with the family that he nearly forgot about the Digimon. "Oh! Yeah. Uh, hey dad, Matt and I are gonna go to my room. I wanna show him my soccer cards."

"Alright. Just be ready to come out when your mother calls you." The two boys promptly ran off to Tai's room, and when the door was securely closed, Matt put his bowl on the ground, having saved the last half of the treat for Tsunomon.

"Hey Tai!" Koromon said excitedly, the little pink Digimon bouncing at his feet. "When's dinner? I'm starved!"

"Shh! Koromon, you have to be quiet!" Tai hissed nervously. "My parents would freak if they saw you. Here, I saved you some food from lunch." He reached into his pocket and pulled out some sandwich cuts he'd snuck from the table. Tsunomon immediately had his face in the ice cream bowl, licking at the sweet dairy treat enthusiastically. The little furball even purred a little as he ate. Clearly he found it delicious.

Matt grinned, patting Tsunomon on the head. He was quiet for a moment as they watched the two Digimon eat, but then a frown came across Matt's face. "Hey, Tai..." the boy said, looking up at the other. "What are we supposed to do if they Digivolve?"

"Well... I'm not so sure they will unless there's danger. As long as they stay in here, nothing should provoke an evolution."

"I hope so," Matt said, sitting down on the wood floor. "Tsunomon I could try to explain, but Gabumon? I can't exactly pass him off as a normal dog."

Tai shrugged, joining him on the floor. "Just say he's some kind of toy. Bandai is always trying to come up with the next biggest and best thing. Just tell people you were picked to test a new animatronic toy. I mean, at least he's not as creepy as those Furbys were. People would probably believe you."

Matt laughed, leaning back on his hands. "I guess it's worth a shot." He couldn't help a yawn that broke forth from his mouth then. He put his hand over his mouth, shaking his head. "Sorry. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Tai smirked. "Why? Did Tsunomon keep you up with a million questions, too?" he asked while sending a playful glance at Koromon.

"Hey!" Koromon piped up defensively, only to quickly quiet himself by slapping his own ears over his mouth

But Matt shook his head. "Nah, I walked TK over to our mom's house and then left early in the morning to get back home."

"You wanna sleep over?" Tai asked suddenly.

"Sleep over?" Matt asked, looking surprised. "Uh... w-well, I don't have pajamas or anything..."

"You can borrow some of mine. Our couch folds out. You and I can sleep on that while Kari just stays in here. It'll be cool. We can stay up late, make popcorn, and watch movies or play video games."

Matt thought for a moment, but then smiled, nodding. "Yeah, alright. That sounds cool." He looked thoughtful, then chuckled. "I guess I don't even need to call my dad. He doesn't know I'm home from camp anyway."

Tai leaned over and wrapped Matt into a hug. It wasn't too strong or too tight, but just a gentle gesture. "I bet he'll still be glad to see you when he does come home."

Matt sighed quietly, letting his head rest in the crook of Tai's shoulder. "Thanks," he murmured, wrapping his arms around Tai after a moment.

Tai turned his head slightly to place a light kiss on the blond's cheek. "Boys! Dinner's ready!" Yuuko called from out in the kitchen.

Tai pulled back, smiling at his boyfriend. "Time to go meet our maker," he joked.

Matt snickered, blushing. He looked down at the two Digimon, who were already done with their food. He picked up the bowl, helping Tai up by his hand. "Remember to stay quiet you guys, got it?"

Tsunomon bounced as a way of nodding. "Of course, Matt." Back in the dining room, the family was once again seated at the table and being served one of Yuuko's concoctions. She'd made spaghetti with sliced onions and steak sauce. There was also some fruit salad and garlic rolls.

Matt had given Tai a look, as if to ask if his mother always made such crazy food. But, always one to be polite, he still ate it and complimented Mrs. Yagami, even if he didn't think steak sauce went so well on pasta. Eventually, towards the end of the meal, the boy meekly said, "Oh, Mrs. Yagami... Tai invited me to stay over, is that okay with you?"

"Of course!" she chirped. "Tai doesn't have friends over nearly as much as he used to." At this, Tai just poked silently at his food. "I'll get you some fresh towels from the linen closet so you can take a shower, and Susumu will set up the pull out bed in the family room for the two of you. Just be sure you don't have the television turned up too loudly. Tai's dad has work in the morning and Kari is still getting over her cold, so she needs her rest."

Matt nodded. "Yes, of course. We'll keep it quiet." He insisted on helping clean up the table so Tai could sneak off some garlic rolls to their Digimon at the end of dinner. Soon, he was clad in a pair of Tai's pajamas, the shirt very oversized on him but the pants riding up to his ankles on his longer legs. The boys had bid Tai's parents good night and helped Tsunomon and Koromon up to Tai's upper bed on the bunk bed while Kari was tucked in below.

Tai pulled the covers up around Kari's shoulder. "Night, Kari, sweet dreams," he said and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. Letting Matt out first, he turned off the light and closed the door behind him. He cast the blond a small smirk. "There's antacides under the bathroom sink if you need any. Mom's cooking can get a little... over exotic for some people."

Matt snickered quietly, shaking his head. "I feel fine. Weird taste in my mouth, but that's about it." He lead the way over to the pull-out bed, flopping down in the sheets.

"Thanks for agreeing to stay over," the boy mumbled.

Matt looked confused, raising his eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I?"

Tai shook his head. "Not that. Just... It's nice to have another guy to hang around with, that's all. Kari's great but, we don't always see eye to eye." Matt just nodded, finally seeming to pick up on what Tai was talking about. He patted the spot on the pull-out bed next to him. Tai crawled in next to the blond. "Feels so good to be in a real bed in a real house again, huh?"

Matt nodded, sighing contentedly and putting his hands behind his head. "Oh, yeah. And I never want to have to search a forest for food again."

"Maybe my mom can fill a cooler with her cucumber and jelly sandwiches for us," Tai said with a laugh. "But you know... We can't get too comfortable here. We still have to go back."

"Why?" Matt asked, frowning deeply. "If we get rid of Myotismon here, why would we ever have to go back? We'll find the eighth chosen child and then everything will go back to normal. Right?"

"If that's really the way it happens."

The boy didn't look too thrilled about the idea of going back to the Digital World. "Myotismon's castle crumbled, so the gate is probably gone... how would we even get back?"

Tai shook his head. "I don't know... I just- " he sighed. "I just don't know."

"We'll just have to see what happens and roll with the punches," Matt said with a shrug. "But hopefully everything works out and we find this kid before Myotismon does."

Tai scooted over until he was lying right up alongside Matt, face pressed into the side of his chest. "Were you ever scared to come back here?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "I guess... but I was more excited than anything to get home. Everyone was getting really worn by all of the wandering and fighting we've done..."

"Yeah, being back with our families is great, but..." Tai stopped himself. On second thought, he didn't want to ruin this with any of his bad thoughts. Fear of his peers aside, he really was happy to be home. No one said he had to come out to people yet. And it wasn't any of the soccer team's business anyway.

"We don't even have to deal with anyone until the summer's over," Matt said as supportively as he could. "Don't worry about it right now."

"I'll try not to." Tai snuggled up closer. He was being the weak one again, but his insecurities were making it hard not to be. "I love you."

Matt smiled just slightly, removing one of his hands from behind his head and wrapping the arm around Tai's shoulders. "I love you too," he murmured back, feeling his heart speed up just to let the words pass his lips.


	13. The Search

Tai woke up to the smell of pancakes. Pancakes that his mom had decided to make with marshmallows and chocolate syrup. As delicious as the idea sounded, the boy knew it would be a disaster. So, he grabbed Matt's hand and pulled him into the bedroom. They were met by their Digimon who were complaining of being hungry. Granted the boys were more upset by how they were going to hide Agumon, who'd Digivolved in the middle of the night, rather than feed them. Tai ended up escorting Matt out with Agumon hiding behind the both of them. Mrs. Yagami had begun to insist Matt stay for breakfast, but Tai said Matt was allergic to pancakes and flashed the blond a look that basically said, 'Run for your life.' All the children met in the park not too much later anyway. Today they decided to search for the eighth child. Seeing as how their Digivices couldn't track over long distances, they were going to have to split up to cover more ground. Matt went with his brother, the girls went off together, Joe stayed behind to make phone calls to other kids, and Tai paired up with Izzy. Matt and TK went down to the docks where Izzy had claimed to have picked up the child's signal the night before. And while Mimi and Sora strolled through residential areas with Biyomon and Palmon, Izzy and Tai were left to wander the crowded city streets. Tentomon and Agumon didn't have the most convincing disguises, with Tentomon in a large jacket and hat and Agumon mostly hidden under a parka save for his long snout poking out from under the hood, but it was the best they could do. Izzy's eyes were locked on the Digivice, and he frowned at it. "This is really quite strange. Last night I was able to detect the eigth child's Digivice as it moved past me at a puzzlingly fast trajectory, but now the Digivice isn't even reacting to yours, and you're located right next to me. Their functionality in the real world is alarmingly sporadic."

"It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Tai groaned. A loud thumping was heard coming up from behind them. Tai looked over his shoulder to see a large group of children running after an ice cream van. "Quick, Izzy, see if any of them give off a signal!"

Izzy pulled out his Digivice, holding it up and keeping his eyes on the screen. But even as all of the children passed, no red light started to blink. "Negative," he said, sounding disheartened.

Tai pat the kid on the shoulder. "We just have to keep looking." After a while, the pair came to the soccer field where Tai's team practiced and had their games. Across the street was the local library. "This is convenient," he said and pulled out his own Digivice. "I'll scour the field while you go canvas the library. We'll meet at the bench over there when we're done. Okay? I'm gonna check all the locker rooms and stuff too."

Izzy nodded. "Alright." He looked up at the library. It was a few stories, but he figured it wouldn't take that long. "We'll meet there in... what do you think, ten minutes?"

"Yeah. I can't really go near the girl's side, so hopefully we don't miss the kid in there. The guy's locker room isn't that big either. Ten minutes should be plenty. I'll see you in a few, Izzy, good luck!" Tai sprinted off down the stairs to the field. He stood on the sidelines, staring at his device, but got no response.

When he ran off toward the bunker which lead down into the locker rooms, a few kids on the field recognized the big brown bush of hair. They all gestured to each other and followed after him. "Hey, Taichi," one of them snapped when they were all down in the locker room. Tai spun around only to smile at the sight of his team mates.

"Oh, hey guys," he laughed. "What's up?"

"Uyeda said he saw Ishida leave your house this morning. Like, early this morning. And that Ishida showed up at your house yesterday afternoon." Tai swallowed.

"What's the Ishida kid's name? Yamato?"

"He calls himself Matt."

"He's really popular with the girls, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he always ignores them. He blew off my sister once to go wander the town, and he came and watched the game from the sidewalk."

"Why? Who was he there to see?"

"Isn't it obvious?" One of the boy's snorted, pointing a finger at Tai. "Him."

Tai tried to laugh the accusation off. "You guys are crazy. I barely know the guy. He was only at my place because his dad knows my dad, and Mr. Ishida needed a place for Matt to stay last night since he wasn't gonna be home."

"Right," scoffed Masa, who seemed to be the leader. "The girls may not see it, but we can tell he's a flamer. Just like you. Were you two fagging it up last night?"

"No!" the brunet snapped viciously. "Just back off..."

Agumon had hidden himself behind the lockers before the other boys came down into the locker room, but he didn't want to just hide while the kids picked on Tai. He didn't quite know what they were talking about, but he could hear in Tai's voice that this was bad. He was torn between Tai's order to hide and his need to protect the boy, but when one of the kids in the group stepped forward and pushed Tai to the locker room floor, Agumon's insticts chose for him. "Leave him alone!" the Digimon barked, running out from behind the lockers and standing in front of his boy, putting his fists up.

"What the hell is that thing?!" one boy shouted from somewhere in the back.

"Some kid in a costume," Masa laughed. "You gonna fight Tai's battles for him?" he asked in a mock baby tone.

Tai stood up from the floor, rubbing his arm and scowling. "Agumon, don't. He's not worth it."

The ring leader frowned. "What did you say? I'm not worth it? No... No, you see, Yagami, you're not worth it. You're not worth anything. Why coach kept you on as team captain, I have no clue, but I know it was a mistake. We can't have some fairy boy leading around the field. We'll get our butts handed to us."

Tai flinched at the words. "Shut up, Masa!"

Agumon clenched his hands tighter, looking ready to pounce at the word. "Tai's a great leader!" he said, feeling the need to argue and protect Tai even though he wasn't quite sure what the confrontation was really about. He looked over his shoulder at the boy, his huge green eyes pleading to be allowed to scare the boys off. "Are you sure I can't...?"

Tai shook his head. "No, you're too strong. You'll hurt them. You are not allowed to attack," he said firmly.

"Too strong for us? That's a laugh." Two boys rushed forward and grabbed Agumon by each arm and threw him into a locker. With the Digimon trapped in its little metal prison, Masa was free to approach the other boy. "Now admit it. Confess to all of us that you were fagging it up with Ishida last night."

Tai clenched his teeth. "I'm not a faggot," he growled.

Masa just sighed. "Fine. Team, let's show our captain what we think of lying little queers."

"Ready when you are." One of the boys said, cracking his knuckles. There was a cheer from the other boys, drowning out Agumon's banging on the inside of the locker, desperately putting dents in the metal door to try and get free. But no matter how dented the locker became, the lock held tight.

"Tai!"

The cheering died after about ten minutes. Each boy stood back, their target curled up on the floor. Tai was covered in bruises and cuts, some even welting. One of his shoes was in the corner. Both his shirts were ripped and torn, the blue one barely even hanging on. The yellow shirt was turning a bright orange in some places where the blood soaked in. He coughed, causing little flecks of red to stain the grey tile. Masa stepped forward, looking down on the team captain. "Admit it." Tai was silent. He refused to break. Masa kicked him viciously in the gut. "Say it!"

Unable to hold back, tears started falling over Tai's face. "I... I'm a faggot..." he whimpered.

"That's right." Satisfied, the team left their fallen mate on the cold floor.

It was silent for a time, before Tai called pleadingly. "Agumon..."

Agumon finally busted through the locker door with a strong headbutt. His poncho tore apart on the fractured metal as he scrambled to get out of the locker. "Taichi!" The Digimon was immediately over at Tai's side, the pupils of his green eyes wide with shock. He looked around desperately, before quickly saying, "I'm gonna go get Izzy!"

"No!" Tai grabbed Agumon's ankle. "Y-You can't go out there like that." The boy got on his knees and crawled to another locker. He opened it and couldn't help but grin at his luck. It was unlocked, and inside was a large red hoodie. "Here, put this on," he instructed. As the Digimon got dressed, Tai hauled himself to his feet. "O-okay... Let's g-go."

Agumon frowned up at the boy, wishing he was taller so he could sling Tai over his shoulders. He did his best to help Tai up the stairs and onto the field, where Izzy and Tentomon were already looking for them, since they'd taken far longer than the alloted ten minutes. "Tai!?" Izzy shouted, running towards the two. "Tai, what in the world happened to you!?"

Tai just shook his head trying to offer a grin. "Nothing, Izzy. I'm okay. D-Did you find anything in... in the library?"

"Tai, I'm not stupid. What happened?! You need medical attention!" Izzy insisted, lifting a piece of torn, bloody fabric in his hand with wide eyes.

"No, I'm okay." Of course it was a bold-faced lie, but Tai didn't like people fretting over him. Brown eyes looked up and his eyebrows knitted together with confusion. "Tokyo Tower is... bending?" He pulled out his mini-scope and used it to look up at the top of the tower. It was there that Tai saw SkullMeramon fighting with Togemon and Birdramon. "Digimon!" he shouted. "The girls need our help!"

Izzy looked hesitant to let Tai get off without telling him what happened, but he turned to Tentomon. "Alright, get us up there, Tentomon. Ready to Digivolve?"

"Right away!" the red bug buzzed. Tentomon Digivolved into Kabuterimon and had the children climb onto his back before flying toward the tower. SkullMeramon shot his Metal Fireball at them when they got close enough, but it hit a corner of the tower, forcing Kabuterimon to catch the metal structure and hold it up.

Tai knew he and Agumon had to fight now. So he looked at his little orange dinosaur friend, clutching his Digivice. "Time to f-fight..."

"This time, I'm gonna protect you, Tai!" Agumon said determinedly. He leapt onto the tower, and promptly Digivolved into Greymon.

But as he fought, Izzy gasped loudly. "Tai, his Nova Blasts are just being absorbed into SkullMeramon's flamed-based body and making him stronger! If Greymon doesn't Digivolve again, he's going to jeopardize the fight!"

Tai hissed. "Greymon... Greymon, you have to Digivolve again!" he called. "Use your courage, Greymon! Use your want to protect me- Ah!" Tai clutched his sides. All the shouting and adrenaline pushed him. His chest was hurting like crazy and more blood soaked his clothes. "Fight, Greymon! I know you can do it!"

Greymon looked over his shoulder, and clenched his fists. Watching Tai was all he needed to Digivolve to Ultimate. MetalGreymon was soon grappling with SkullMeramon, and the fight raged on until MetalGreymon threw his opponent off the tower and managed to defeat him with a well-aimed Giga Blaster. He turned back into Koromon, falling from where he had been floating in the sky until Kabuterimon caught him. "Tai, Tai!" the pink Digimon fretted, leaping over to his boy. "Are you okay?"

Tai tried to smile for his little Digimon, but it didn't work this time. He ended up slumped against Izzy's back. Purple and black spots danced in his vision while his body turned warm and numb. "I... I don't think I feel so great..."

Izzy looked over at Tai, frowning deeply. He leaned down to talk to Kabuterimon. "Remember the hospital we passed leaving the house, Kabuterimon? Take us there." He sat up again, watching Koromon sit in Tai's lap, looking worried and guilty. "What happened, Tai?" Izzy asked.

"I got a-attacked, that... that's what," he said wearily. "Masa and the t-team cornered me in... the locker r-room. Beat me... up."

Izzy's dark eyes widened. "Oh, Tai... why?! Wh-what was their motivation?! They can't simply get away with that!"

Tai's whole body shivered and his shoulders shook with unshed tears. "B-Because I'm... I'm..."

Izzy sighed quietly, shaking his head. "Is it because of you and Matt?"

The boy nodded. "I prob-bably do deserve it..."

Izzy shook his head as he tapped Kabuterimon to make sure he was going the right way. "No, you don't, Tai."

"They couldn't possibly... hate me that m-much... if they weren't right." He started to cry. "I am a f-f...fag..."

Izzy turned around, looking completely lost. "Izzy, what's he talking about?" Koromon asked, nuzzling against Tai's arm with a whine. "How could they possibly hate Tai? He's the best kid I've ever met!" Izzy was left speechless, biting his lip.

Tai started to cough again. Blood splattered over Koromon's face. When Tai stopped, he gasped when he saw what he'd done. "Oh... Oh man. I'm sorry, Koromon." The boy tried desperately to wipe the blood off the little Digimon, but it just smeared with the rest that was on his gloves. "Koromon... I... I feel sleepy."

Koromon looked desperately guilty, and he murmured, "I-I'm sorry I didn't protect you, Tai."

He shook his head. "You did, Koromon. You jumped in... to save me. Thank you."

"But I didn't!" Koromon barked. "Or you wouldn't be like this!"

"Koromon," Izzy said, looking at the ground. "We're landing. You guys need to be quiet and stay in the trees while we go inside."

"Izzy... I don't wanna be here." Tai tried to sit up and look back in the direction they came from. "The eighth kid... is still out there... somewhere. W-We have t'fi-find him. Hospital time will... will only slow us d-down."

Izzy frowned, slinging Tai over his shoulders and sliding down Kabuterimon's back. "Everyone else can take care of that, Tai. You need to see a doctor."

The second Izzy walked through the automatic front doors, a nurse bolted up from her seat behind the desk. "Oh my-!" She ran around and took Tai off the smaller boy's shoulders. "What on earth happened to him?!" she asked and began pressing the call button from a doctor.

"I-I'm not quite sure." Izzy said. He didn't want Tai to have to explain himself if he didn't want to. "But I found him like this, and he needs to see a doctor right away, ma'am."

"Well of course he does!" she gasped. "Anyone who does this to a child should be arrested!" A doctor and three other nurses came down the hall with a stretcher ready to take Tai to a room. "Who are his emergency contacts?" the first woman asked as the others ran back down the hall with Tai.

"I-I suppose his mother?" Izzy said, biting his lip. "Mrs. Yagami is her name, and... Oh!" He searched around in his pockets until he produced a crumpled piece of paper that Tai had scribbled his home phone number onto, handing it over to the nurse.

She took the paper and nodded. "All right, thank you. Please have a seat right over there. You can see your friend when his parents arrive." The woman hurried back around the desk and dialed the number given to her.

Not five minutes later was the Yagami family in the car and speeding toward the hospital. Yuuko was nearly in tears. Luckily her husband had come home for lunch, so he could drive. He just pulled around a corner when his wife suddenly cried, "Stop!" The vehicle screeched to a halt. Yuuko rolled down her window and called to the two blonds on the sidewalk. "Yamato?!"

Matt looked up, stopping his little brother with one hand. "Yes?" he asked, looking surprised when he realized it was Tai's mother, and she was in tears. "What's the matter, Mrs. Yagami?"

"Were you with him? Did you see what happened to him?" she asked, voice pleading. "Did you see who hurt him?!"

"What?" Matt jumped, looking confused. "I-I'm sorry Mrs. Yagami, but what're you talking about?"

She burst into tears again, burying her face in her hands. Susumu leaned forward so he could be seen through the window. "Taichi is in the hospital," he explained. "Someone attacked him."

Matt's eyes widened, feeling a cold sweat break out on his body. This could be bad. Really bad. Did he get in the way of a Digimon fight!? One of those wild Digimon could kill him! "D-do you mind if we come?" he asked shakily, pulling TK over to the side of the car.

"Of course," Mr. Yagami said. "Get in."

Kari opened the back boor of the car to let the brothers in. TK got in first and smiled at the little girl who seemed to be his age. "Hi, my name is TK," he said.

"I'm Kari..." the girl said, trying to look pleasant, but worry was obvious on her features. She was thinking the same thing Matt was, and as the car sped towards the hospital, both of them were fretting over what exactly had happened.

TK pat Kari's arm. "Tai will be okay. He's strong."

When they got to the hospital, Mrs. Yagami was the first one inside. "Where's my baby?" she cried as her hands slammed down on the receptionist desk.

The nurse jumped slightly. "Ma'am, please calm down. Are the Yagamis?"

"Yes! Yes, we are!"

"Your son is doing fine. He's in good hands. Luckily this young man brought him in just in time."

Yuuko looked over to the seating where the nurse pointed and gasped. "Koushiro?" She recognized the boy as one of their downstairs neighbors. "Koushiro, you were with him when it happened?"

Izzy scratched at the back of his head. "N-no, ma'am, I found him just afterwards... We got here as fast as possible, but I didn't see what happened..."

Matt slid over to where the boy was sitting, frowning deeply. "Was it a Digimon?" he whispered.

"No... it wasn't," Izzy murmured with a frown.

"Please, I want to see him!" Mrs. Yagami cried. Mr. Yagami came up and held his wife's shoulders, trying to calm her down. The nurse nodded and lead them down the hall. The kids were allowed to come as well, but only Kari could actually go in as family. Matt, Izzy, and TK would have to wait their turn. Though the trio didn't get a chance to see Tai, they could hear Mrs. Yagami breaking down into fearful sobs.

Matt bit his lip, turning back to Izzy as they waited outside the room. "So what was it, then? If it wasn't a Digimon..."

"It was a bunch of kids... on Tai's soccer team, apparently," Izzy said with a frown.

Matt visibly paled at that. "Oh, no... Izzy, i-it's not what-"

"Save it, Matt. I know- I've known. But he's really broken up about it..."

"Oh..." Matt looked down at his feet.

"Taichi, sweetheart, please tell us what happened."

As much as his mother begged, Tai just kept smiling at her. "It's no big deal mom," he kept insisting. "I just had an accident."

"This isn't an accident!" she practically screamed at him. "Somebody hurt you!"

Kari walked over to her brother's side, frowning and putting her small hand on top of his. "Big brother... there's a time for secrets and a time when you're more important, y'know."

Outside, Matt was clenching his free hand into a fist. "Izzy, do you know where those kids went?"

"No Matt, why?" the redhead asked quizically.

"...No reason."

Tai just kept smiling. That's what he always did. Smile. If he smiles enough, then everything would be okay. Everyone would feel better. That's what his smile did. It helped others to feel better. Only... This time it wasn't working as well. Yuuko kept crying and Susumu tried to convince his son to talk. Even Kari was latched onto his hand and looking at him with big soft doe eyes. After nearly an hour of their son not talking, the Yagamis decided they needed a break. They would get coffee from downstairs and then come back. In the mean time, the other children were allowed in. The three boys shuffled in. Izzy was just frowning concernedly, able to gather that Tai had refused to speak by the worried wails of his mother. Matt was immediately at Tai's side, not really sure what to say. There was silence before he murmured, "I... guess you were right to worry."

"I wish I wasn't." An IV drip fed blood into his left arm. His hands were bandaged from defensive wounds. Tai's bushy hair was now held up by the ace wrap around his head rather than his normal goggles. More bandages were secured around his chest and his right leg was set up in a splint beneath the sheets. "It was really stupid of me to go in there," he said. "I kept telling myself that you were right, and that I was worried over nothing, but then they cornered me. Practically the whole team was there. It felt like they had been waiting for me or something." Tai shivered. "Uyeda told everyone he saw you leave my house this morning after you slept over. I... tried to convince them I wasn't what they thought I was. I told them we weren't fagging it up, that we weren't queers, but..." He cried now. "They were right. That's exactly what I am."

Matt looked guilty, feeling his heart sink when he saw that Tai had started to cry. He stepped closer to the boy's bed and wiped away his tears, kissing his forehead gently. "I'm sorry, Taichi." Izzy blushed awkwardly, looking at the door.

TK looked up at his brother with wide, curious eyes. "Matt, how come you just did that?"

Matt swallowed slightly, looking at Tai and then back at his brother. Well, Tai's little sister knew. It was only fair. "Because Tai's my boyfriend, TK."

This only seemed to confuse him more. "Your what? Boy friend? Well... yeah... but, Izzy and Joe are your boy friends too. You don't kiss them."

"That's... not the same thing, TK," Matt said, laughing awkwardly. He scratched at the back of his head, looking at the ceiling. How to put it...

"I don't get it. Only families kiss each other, and mommies and daddies." TK tugged on Matt's shirt insistently. "How come you kissed Tai? What's that mean?"

"Um, well... B-because we... love each other," he said quietly, looking over at Tai. "Right?"

Tai nodded. "Right."

TK just frowned. "But I love Tai too. So does Sora, Mimi, Joe, and Izzy. We all love Tai. Tai loves all of us too."

The brunet sighed. Kid sure wasn't making this easy. "TK... Your brother and I love each other in the same special way that moms and dads love each other."

TK seemed to think this over, his little face scrunched up in deep concentration. Finally a little light bulb seemed to go off. "Ohhhhh..."

"Yeah, like that." Matt said, nodding his head. He wanted to take Tai's hand, but he was too wary of those bandages. Izzy was looking at the floor, still silenced with the awkwardness of the situation. "Does... that make sense, TK?"

The blond child nodded. "So which one of you is the mommy and which one is the daddy?" he asked innocently.

Matt coughed slightly, shrugging his shoulders. "I uh, dunno."

"Mommies are girls," TK said matter-of-factly. "Which one of you is gonna be a girl when you grow up? I don't think it's gonna be Tai. He likes sports. Matt, you have pretty eyes, like mommy. So I bet it'll be you." He pouted. "Aw man, that means you'll be my big sister instead. Just don't kiss me and leave lipstick all over my face like Aunt Laura, okay?"

"I'm not gonna change into a girl, TK..." Matt groaned, his face turning red. "I'll still be your big brother."

TK threw his hands up in the air in the cutest little frustrated fashion. "Then I just don't get you two!" he huffed. "What's left? Two daddies?"

"Well, yeah, basically," Matt said, nodding. "That's pretty much exactly it, TK."

"Oh..." TK climbed up onto the bed and sat there, staring at his shoes. "Well, that's okay. Why did those boys beat Tai up, then? Do they not like dads? Don't they have dads? Maybe their dads are mean to them, but Tai's not mean. Why would they do this, Matt?"

"We don't... really know, TK," Matt said quietly. "I don't know what their problem is. They probably have some reason, but I doubt it's good. Some people just don't understand."

"Because being gay is wrong, and they want to make sure I know it," Tai mumbled as he rolled onto his side. "I'm starting to think I believe them."

"But, Tai!" Matt stammered, looking over at the boy with wide, surprised eyes. "How could you possibly believe them!?"

"How can they have so much hatred for something that only a handful of people think is right? You didn't hear the things they said to me, Matt. All the things they called me... It hurt..."

"It doesn't make them right because they can make you hurt, Tai..." Matt said, sitting next to the boy with a frown. He hesitantly touched Tai's shoulder, looking genuinely worried.

Brown eyes settled upon the girl who had been standing next to the bed in silence the entire time. "Kari... Take TK and go to the playroom down the hall, okay?"

Kari was watching with big, sad brown eyes, but she nodded and took the other boy's wrist, leading him out, Patamon following after them and perching himself atop TK's hat before he walked out the door. "Do you want me to leave?" Izzy asked.

"You seem pretty uncomfortable," Tai mumbled. "If you don't want to be here, then you don't have to be."

"Sorry.," Izzy said, bowing his head slightly. "I'll be outside." The redheaded boy stepped out of the room, leaving Tai and Matt alone, save Tsunomon, who was still nestled in the crook of Matt's arm.

Tai was silent for a few minutes. He was trying to hold back tears, but the pain killers the doctor gave him was making any sort of effort really hard. "I've never been so embarrassed in my entire life," he whispered sadly.

"I... I'm sorry, Tai." Matt said again, looking at the crisp white sheets.

"After every game, you know what I hear?"

"No, what?"

"They're all in the locker room, showering, and then I come in. 'Backs to the wall, guys. Here comes the curry queen. Protect your ass,'" he choked painfully.

Matt swallowed dryly, murmuring, "That must be hard to deal with."

"'Don't get too close. You'll catch his queer.' They write 'gay boy' inside my underwear so I have to go buy new pairs so my mom won't see. They call me a trick and bet on how easy I am. I just..." Tai shook with a quiet cry. "I don't feel like I can do it anymore. I can hear them laughing and shouting at me. Hitting me and kicking me. Just wailing on me. One of them... One of them... he..."

"...He what?" Matt pried quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. He couldn't imagine having to go through that. His was such a well-guarded secret that he'd never dealt with anything like this.

Tai bit back a sob. "He stuck his finger in my mouth and asked me how I like it. He scratched my tongue and shoved it all the way back in my throat. He said he bet I liked it, like a guy's dick."

Matt clenched his fist, a growl forming in his throat. "And these are all the same guys that did this to you today?"

"Y-yes..." Tai nodded, sobbing quietly.

"Then they're going down."

Tai gasped, looking over his shoulder suddenly. "Wh-what?"

Anger was evident on Matt's features, and his fist shook. "Anyone who does this to you deserves a taste of their own medicine."

"M-Matt, no... Don't. There's like... ten of them. You'll get hurt. Please..."

"I'll fight them one by one if I have to!" Matt hissed, his eyes dancing like enraged blue fire. "There is no way I'm letting them get away with this!"

Tai shook his head. "They already have, Matt. They've gotten away with it for almost a year. Don't get yourself into trouble with them. They aren't worth it, right?"

"They may not be, but you are." Matt said, looking down at the other boy. "It wouldn't matter if you were hurt like this by a bunch of kids or adults or even Digimon. Whoever they are, I'm going to make them pay."

"But the team-"

Tai started to protest, only to be cut off by his father. "So is that it?" Susumu asked. "Your soccer mates beat you up because..." He looked between his son and the blond sitting in the bed with him. "Because you like this boy?"

Matt's eyes went wide, and he looked over at the door, only now noticing that Tai's father had returned. "M-Mr. Yagami! I- uh..." Matt's throat went dry, and he found himself at a loss for words.

"Son..." The man looked almost saddened. "Why didn't you come to us sooner?"

"That's right," said Mrs. Yagami who stepped out from behind her husband. "We could have been helping you."

"Y-You mean you don't hate me now?" the boy asked.

"What? Of course not!" Yuuko cradled Tai's face in her hands. "You are our son. We could never hate you. While I think you're still a bit young to be deciding on these feelings, I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong."

Susumu stepped forward. "And while it may not be what we expected, we're hardly disappointed." Matt smiled, though he felt very awkward and out of place. At least both of Tai's parents were okay with it. With everything the boy was going through... it was definitely comforting to know his family was supportive.

Yuuko smiled at her son and then at Matt. "Well, Yamato, you seem like a very nice boy. Are you nice to Tai?"

Matt looked surprised, scratching at the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, yes? I'd like to think so."

"Good." She looked back at her son. "Taichi, are you nice to Yamato?"

The boy rolled his eyes and grinned. "Yes, mom, we're nice to each other. Sometimes we fight, but guys do that."

Yuuko nodded. "Well as long as neither of you come home with a black eye."

Matt laughed nervously, nodding. "Of course not." It was then that a thought suddenly came to his mind. Since it was as if no time had passed while they were in the Digital World... it must've seemed like they got together during that one day they went to camp but got sent home. He hoped that Tai's parents didn't think this was something that would be over just as fast as it started...

"Good," she said again, nodding. "The nurse told us on our way back in that visiting hours were just about over. If you'd like, we can drop you and your little brother off at home. Koushiro is coming as well. He lives in the same building. You met him at camp right? Well, just know that you're welcome at our place anytime. I'll even make you boys snacks."

Matt nodded, standing up. "Yes, we did. Thank you. My brother and I don't live in the same place, though, if you wouldn't mind dropping us off at my mother's house. I'd rather see him get home safe, and then I'll walk to my dad's."

"I can take you to your dad's place, also," Susumu offered. "I don't mind."

"If you're sure," Matt said, nodding thankfully. He then turned to Tai, offering a small smile. "I'll see you later then, okay?"

Tai reached out and took Matt's hand, giving it a squeeze. "Don't worry about me. Keep playing the game for me, okay? Tell the others I'll be back in soon." His parents looked puzzled for only a second or two. They figured it must be some game all kids at camp came up with. Really, the Yagamis were just glad their son had made some more friends. They knew Tai had the ability to draw people to himself and they were glad of that.

Yuuko leaned over to kiss her son on the forehead. "Your dad will be back once we're done dropping everyone off. I'll put Kari to bed and then I'll come in a few hours after so your dad can go to work."

"Okay, mom. Thanks."

Matt just nodded, holding Tai's hand for a moment before he reluctantly let go. "Yeah, don't worry. I will." With that, he let himself be lead out of the room by Tai's parents. Izzy was right outside the door, and they all then set off down the hallway to get TK and Kari and head home. Though worry had set heavily on Matt's mind, and rage still flickered in the back of it, the acceptance from Tai's parents had given him momentary ease.

"Sorry," Izzy said again, his hands in his pockets.

"It's not your fault," Matt murmured, looking over at Izzy as he took the hand of his little brother, who'd been instantly wanting his brother's support.

"I should have guessed that the act of splitting up would jeopardize us."

"I said it's fine," Matt said firmly. "Don't blame yourself, Izzy."

"If you insist," Izzy said, brushing back his red hair. "Well, we have a kid to find, right?"

"Right."


End file.
